


All's Fair In War and Love

by totally4ryo



Category: FAKE (Manga)
Genre: M/M, Multi-Part
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-02-24
Updated: 2013-02-24
Packaged: 2017-12-03 10:40:43
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 10
Words: 50,464
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/697383
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/totally4ryo/pseuds/totally4ryo
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Finding himself once again alone at the supermarket check out, Dee finally confronts Ryo on something that has been bothering him since he first got together with Ryo.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter One

**Author's Note:**

> This fic started as an idea being bounced back and forth between myself and deeryofan on IM. Most of Ryo’s parts in this fic is because of her. Thanks to her for helping me write this fic.  
> (Written in January 2006)

Dee was walking down the aisle of the local supermarket, shopping cart before him already filled with some items. He had left Ryo in the last aisle when his lover was taking too much time over which paper towel product to pick. They went over it a hundred times since they moved in together. Supposedly they had a brand, but Ryo was in a mood to re-evaluate if it was the best buy for money and use.  
  
Idly Dee started down the next aisle to realize he had wandered down a predominantly feminine territory. He started to turn the cart around to trace back his steps when a hand came from behind him to drop the same paper towels they had been using for almost a year, and the ones Dee would have picked up in the first place.  
  
“You’re right, they still are the best all around,” Ryo said.  
  
“Told you,” Dee remarked with a smirk. As he turned the cart, he noticed he was in front of the family planning section. “Hey, how are we on lube?” he asked.  
  
“Running low, but there’s enough for a day or two,” Ryo replied, standing behind Dee. “I think there still should be some of the special stuff left.”  
  
“A day, or a round?” Dee had to clarify. He knew he had a bad habit of using, but not checking until almost nothing came out of the tube. At least Ryo would keep track. Dee sighed. Even if there were times, he would have said nothing about it until almost the last minute.  
  
Still standing behind Dee and peering over his shoulder, appearing in thought, he finally replied, “Better get some. It’s not like it’ll go to waste if we don’t need it now.”  
  
Dee chuckled. “Definitely not.”   
  
“Looks like they have a new brand,” Ryo pointed out.  
  
Dee’s eyes went to where the finger directed from behind him onto the small bottle. Super glide, super smooth, fresh clean scent. His eyes went wide when he saw the price for the size. “You can spend an afternoon debating about paper towel prices but have the nerve to consider this?”  
  
“Well…. It’s not like we haven’t paid that much before.”  
  
“I’m not going to pay $14 for a small bottle of something that has a fresh clean scent and will probably make me slide out as fast as I can put it in,” Dee grumped. “Clean scent for sex.” He peered behind him. “Have you been sending in suggestions?”  
  
Ryo laughed nervously, his eyes darting around to assure they were still alone in the aisle. “Of course not. You know I prefer other flavors. I was just pointing out it’s new stock here. Not saying we had to buy it. The usual has been good enough for the basics.”  
  
“Basics, huh?” Dee chuckled again as he reached for the generic brand. Ryo spoke the truth, that particular generic brand having been tested and tried to be every bit as good as the brand names sitting on the shelf with it. So long as they wanted a basic lube. At a fraction of the price too. “Three times the amount for ¼ the price,” he remarked. “That means we can spend more money on the real fun stuff.”  
  
Ryo had already started walking out of the aisle to go into the next. Dee sighed as he continued to turn the cart around. He caught sight of some women who had entered from the other side and now browsing through the feminine items.  
  
After picking up the rest of the items they had stopped off at the supermarket after work for, they headed for the checkout counter. Dee had noticed the box with the lube was tucked carefully among the other items and could not be seen. As it always ended up when Ryo was along and that particular item was in their cart.  
  
They stood on the checkout line, Dee flipping through a magazine he considered buying, while Ryo made sarcastic comments as he went through one of the gossip papers kept near the counter.  
  
When he got up to the counter, Dee reached into the cart to place their items on the checkout counter. He pushed the small cart ahead of him and turned back to talk to Ryo.  
  
His partner was not there. Dee did not bother glancing around the store, his eyes immediately going to the sidewalk beyond the large store windows. Dee’s mouth became a thin line as his eyes settled on the familiar figure now waiting for him outside, leaning against the frame between the window to be out of the way of the bustling pedestrian traffic. While it was nothing they had discussed previously, Dee wondered why he expected his partner to still be next to him.  
  
“Will that be all for you tonight, Dee?” the woman at the counter asked, flashing him a smile.  
  
“Cigarettes,” he replied. “The usual.”  
  
“I’ll be right back then,” she said, her smile becoming more than friendly as she went to get his cigarettes from the counter they locked the tobacco products in.  
  
Dee’s eyes went to the lube still laying on the counter among the other items waiting to be rung up. He let out a sigh, wondering if she was hoping he would suddenly decide to use it on her. Hell, he’d been buying lube once in a while at this store for a while now and usually had her as the checkout. Didn’t she realize he was very much taken? Or consider the lack of any female items meant she wasn’t his type? His eyes went back to the man waiting for him outside, remembering what Ryo had said about the supply at home. He picked up the box and set it discreetly to the side.  
  
She returned, and finished ringing up his purchase, then started to bag the items while Dee took out his credit card to pay for it. ‘The least you can do is hand over the money before running scared,’ he thought as he paid for the groceries, ignoring the signs the woman was giving him.   
  
She pointedly asked him if he had changed his mind on the lube when she noticed it was no longer with his other items.   
  
The woman behind him chuckled, as she had been watching him as he placed it aside.  
  
‘No shit, lady,’ he thought. ‘Did you think I stood here and watched it walk away by itself?’  
  
Signing his name on the credit slip, he simply said, “Yeah, I did.”  
  
Outside the store, Ryo turned to him, taking a couple of bags. Dee allowed it, wondering if when they got home, Ryo would notice the lube did not make through check out.  
  
Ryo talked on about everyday things and observations as they walked down the street, while Dee quietly smoked a cigarette, grunting non-committal replies to his partner’s comments. Once more, he concentrated on pushing away his annoyance of suddenly being left alone at the counter whenever that particular item was among their purchases. He found this time he was having trouble telling himself it was no big deal, and able to push it away in his mind.   
  
He replied verbally once when Ryo asked, “Do you want to walk? Or take the subway?”  
  
“Subway,” Dee replied, knowing it was only 3 stops and very walkable. His reply was not only because the bag with the meat was heavy, but he wanted to get home and soon. He needed to get away from Ryo and get control of his growing ire over something so stupid as a tube of lubrication.  
  
On the subway train, they discovered there were no seats, so they huddled together at the far end of the train, Dee leaned against the door leading to another car, attempting to put a little space between them. He hoped no one would use the door. Having Ryo within his personal space was quickly becoming an invasion at the moment. Ryo was standing before him, struggling to keep his bags from hitting the people sitting in the seats close to him.  
  
Ryo leaned toward Dee. “You’ve been quiet,” he observed.  
  
Dee shook his head. “Nothing.”  
  
Ryo studied him. “It’s not nothing. What’s wrong, Dee?”  
  
Dee glanced up at him with warning eyes. “Later, Ryo.”  
  
“C’mon, Dee.”  
  
“Later.”  
  
“Why?”  
  
“Because I don’t want to get into it on a train.”  
  
“Get into it? Are you mad?”  
  
Dee nodded his head.  
  
“At me?”  
  
Another nod.  
  
“Why?”  
  
“We’ll talk when we get home.”  
  
“And put up with you sulking until then?”  
  
“It’s only two stops now.”  
  
“Two stops too long when you sulk.”  
  
“I’m not sulking. I’m just being quiet.”  
  
“The only time you’re quiet is when you sulk.”  
  
Dee rolled his eyes. The silence was like a wall between them. If only there was something solid between them, Dee thought, because Ryo moved to close the ever so slight space between them. Dee’s mind screamed to push Ryo away. He needed the distance to convince himself it was nothing to fight over.  
  
The other people in the crowded car were quick to take up the little room Ryo’s movement opened to them. With his back up against the door Dee hoped would not open, and having Ryo now being pushed even closer thanks to the greediness of those behind his partner, Dee fought back the strange sensation of being closed in.   
  
“Dee….”  
  
“One more stop after this one, Ryo.”  
  
“Then the walk home.”  
  
“Only two blocks. Ryo, trust me. You don’t want to get into it here.”  
  
“Why not? What are you pissed at me about?”  
  
“It’s no big deal.”  
  
“Oh? That’s why you’re pissed then? Over nothing?”  
  
Dee tried to shrug. “You know me, making something out of nothing. Let it go.”  
  
“Dee,” Ryo warned with a slight edge to his voice, telling he was losing his patience.  
  
“Not here, Ryo,” Dee replied through clenched teeth, having already lost his.  
  
“Why?” Ryo asked, his eyes meeting Dee’s. “So you can find a way to avoid it later.”  
  
Dee’s eyes flashed in warning. “I don’t hide,” he snapped.  
  
“Right.”  
  
Dee glared in defiance. “I don’t run and hide,” he insisted.  
  
“If that’s true, then why won’t you tell me now?”  
  
“Because I said later. When we’re home….”  
  
“When you hope I’ll forget so you don’t have to tell me.”  
  
“That’s not true. Yes, I pull away at times. To think,” Dee insisted, trying to keep himself from exploding. “To sort things out. Not to freakin’ hide! Let it rest for now, Ryo.”  
  
Unfortunately Ryo was being stubborn. “No. Tell me, Dee,” he insisted.  
  
Dee had reached the limits of being able to hold back. He tried, but just was unable to reign in his anger. “It’s about the fuckin’ lube, okay!” he exploded. “After a year, you still can’t buy the fucking lube unless you’re hiding behind your computer. You can’t even stand next to me when I’m buying it. Jesus Christ, Ryo! If you expect to fuck me, you could at least buy the fuckin’ lube sometimes!”  
  
Ryo was not blushing at Dee’s tirade on the crowded train. His face was a pasty white, all blood drained. He was beyond embarrassed into mortified.  
  
They did not have to look around to know everyone in the car was staring at them. People going to exit the train, as the door opened for the stop before theirs, stared back at them. Some sneered, some chuckled in amusement. Some looked at Dee as if he was a bastard, while others looked at him in sympathy while Ryo was glared at as a brute. More glances told how faggots were not tolerated, had no right to be there.  
  
Dee himself was mortified at his outburst. He did not trust his rising temper and chose to remain quiet until they got home. Damn Ryo for pushing as he had. Those strangers had more information about them than Dee was comfortable with.  
  
He pushed past Ryo, into the crowd exiting the train. He rushed through the station and up to the street. He did not pause to see if Ryo managed to get off too or not. He ran and kept running, even up the flight of stairs to the apartment he shared with Ryo and Bikky seven floors up.  
  
As he opened the door to the apartment, Bikky got up from the couch. “It’s about time. A kid can starve around here,” he started to complain as his usual greeting.  
  
Dee dropped the bags on the couch next to Carol. “Put these away,” he said, “Ryo will be here soon. Complain to him.” He spun and headed for the bedroom. Once inside the sanctity of the bedroom, he slammed the door and locked it.  
  
  
Bikky shuddered from the force the door was slammed then blinked at the sound of it being locked. “Sheesh, he’s in a really bad mood,” Bikky said to Carol.  
  
Carol looked in the bag to notice the meat and started to get up from the couch. “Let’s put this stuff away if you hope to eat,” she suggested.  
  
“I wonder what happened?” Bikky asked, following Carol, taking a bag. “I mean, judging from when Ryo does that, Dee usually ends up in the guest room.”  
  
Carol giggled a little. “Sounds like Ryo is sleeping in the guest room tonight then.”  
  
Bikky shook his head. “Dee doesn’t lock Ryo out.” He frowned. “Dee must be really mad over something.”  
  
They heard the front door open again. “Dee!” Ryo called out, entering the apartment.  
  
“Ryo’s home,” Carol said unnecessarily to Bikky.  
  
“Something tells me it’s not a good idea to hit him up with dinner yet,” Bikky grumbled.  
  
  
Ryo was not sure when he had started to push through the packed train for the closing doors, whether it was to go after Dee, or to just get the hell away from all those stares. If he was going after Dee, he was not sure if he wanted to get to the bottom of what caused that embarrassing display, or to throttle him for announcing to an entire subway car about their sex life.  
  
He barely got to the door in time, shoving his shoulder in to keep it from closing and forcing it to open again, then ran off the train through the busy train station. He did not see any sign of Dee. He went out of the subway station, looking around the street, still not seeing his lover. With a sigh, he came to the conclusion he had only one place to go. If that was not Dee’s destination, eventually he would have to show up. Setting a quick pace, Ryo started to walk home. That short display on the train left him drained, especially after a particularly hard day at work. Nothing seemed to have gone right during the day. Now if seemed the rest of the day was going to follow in the same vein. Ryo was not happy. He added one more reason to kick Dee’s ass when he finally saw him – Dee could have at least waited until they got to their stop to pull his stunt.   
  
Ryo stormed into the apartment slightly out of breath. “Dee!” he called out.  
  
He heard movement in the kitchen and rushed across the apartment. “Dee?” he asked as he approached the kitchen. He saw Bikky and Carol putting away the groceries Dee had dumped on them. He hefted his bags on the counter. “Thanks, guys.” Before Bikky had a chance to protest the added groceries to be put away, he asked, “Where’s Dee?”  
  
“Dee’s in the bedroom,” Carol replied.  
  
Ryo turned and ran from the kitchen.  
  
“He’s in a mood,” Bikky tried to warn too late as Ryo was no longer in the kitchen.   
  
*** *** ***  
  
Ryo charged to the bedroom door. “Dee?” Grasping the door knob, he went to open the door, only to find it locked. “Dee!” he yelled out. “Open the door!” When no reply came from the other side, he called out, “Come on, Dee!”  
  
“No!” he heard Dee’s angry voice. From the distance, Ryo figured Dee was on the bed.  
  
Ryo rattled at the door in anger. “Dammit Dee, open the fucking door!”  
  
“Later, Ryo. Just let it be for now,” Dee insisted.  
  
“Goddammit Dee! You can’t pull a stunt like that on a train and then hide.” He slammed his fist at the door. “Open the door!”  
  
“I’m not hiding,” Dee’s voice answered from closer to the door. “I told you to let it go on the train. I warned you! But no…. you had to push. So listen this time and let it fucking go for now! Okay?”  
  
“Why? What else can you possibly say that could be worse than what you said on that train?” Ryo demanded, leaning into the door. “Open the door!” He slammed his fist against it again.  
  
“Trust me, Ryo, you don’t want the answer to that.”  
  
“Dee!”  
  
“No!”  
  
“Stop acting like a goddamn brat for fucking heaven’s sake!”  
  
You’re mistaking me for you, I’m afraid,” came the sarcastic reply.  
  
Ryo slammed his fist against the door again. “Fuck you!” he yelled.  
  
“Look, go make dinner or something,” Dee’s said. “I might come out if I’m hungry.”  
  
“I’m not your wife, you asshole!”  
  
“Then stop acting like one, dammit!” Dee’s voice seemed away from the door again.  
  
With his ear to the door, Ryo heard rummaging around a drawer, then Dee’s footsteps going to the bathroom. “Dee!” he yelled again.  
  
A few moments went by greeted only by silence from the other side, except for the distant, indistinguishable sound of Dee in the bathroom. When he finally heard Dee walking back into the bedroom, he hit the wood one more time with his fist. “Fine. You can stay in there and rot! But I don’t want to hear you ever make a comment when I do it.”  
  
Ryo turned to storm back to the kitchen when he heard the bedroom door unlock. Something bounced off his shoulder.  
  
“You were wrong,” he heard Dee say. “We’re completely out!”  
  
The bedroom door slammed closed again.  
  
Ryo turned and stared down on the floor at the tube of lube near his feet. He picked it up, noticing the cap was off. Angrily, he hurled it against the closed door. “Bastard!”  
  
“You’re the bastard!” came the reply. The door opened again. Dee stood in the doorway, glaring at Ryo.  
  
Ryo advanced on Dee. “Me?” he demanded. He looked at the other man, giving him a glare of doom.  
  
It seemed to have no effect on Dee, whose look could have thrown daggers. “If you expect to fuck me,” Dee said through clenched teeth, “I suggest you go out and get more.” He leaned against the door frame, and folded his arms, still glaring at Ryo.  
  
Ryo opened his mouth to reply, but found he could not find any words.  
  
“Dammit, Ryo! I’m sick of always having to buy the damn shit! And if we are together in the store, do you even say, ‘I’ll meet you outside’? Do you make sure I have enough cash on me? Do you even fuckin’ care how I feel when I suddenly find myself alone without warning? You just cut out, you fuckin’ coward!”  
  
Ryo’s anger rose to a dangerous level, as a vein showed on his forehead. “You bastard! That’s it? That’s why you yelled at me in front of dozens of strangers?!!!”  
  
“It’s only a little tube of fuckin’ lube,” Dee remarked.  
  
“Then why are you making such a fucking fuss about it?!”  
  
“I tried not to!” Dee insisted, his voice still raised. “I yelled at you because you had to keep pushing. I wanted to wait until we got home, in private. Maybe allow myself to cool down a little and try to discuss this calmly like two adults who are in love. But you had to know right there on the train!” He clenched his fists. “You think I liked having all those fuckin’ strangers staring at me too?!?” He started to turn to go back into the room, his arm going out to slam the door closed again.  
  
Ryo shot a hand out to keep the door open. “I’m sorry, I’m not a freaking mind reader! I couldn’t know you’d go and blurt out the details about our sex life in a full car!”  
  
“I told you to wait!” Dee started to storm away from the door.  
  
Ryo grabbed onto Dee’s arm and spun him around to face him. “Oh no! You wait!”  
  
Dee looked down at the hand tightly gripping his arm, then back to Ryo’s furious eyes. “When I say later, that usually means I’m going to say something that will embarrass the two of us. Haven’t you fuckin’ learned that by now?” He shook his arm, trying to pull away from Ryo’s hold. “Oh, that’s right. Why should you? You can’t even buy the fuckin’ lube after all this time!”  
  
With a dark scowl, Ryo shook the arm he still held. “Stop making this my fault!” he demanded.  
  
“It is your fuckin’ fault!” Dee insisted, finally managing to free his arm.  
  
“I DON’T SEE HOW!!!”  
  
“If it wasn’t for me, we wouldn’t have a normal sex life,” Dee explained, his voice a little lower. “Obviously you don’t appreciate even that much!”  
  
Ryo gaped at the ridiculous statement.  
  
“I’m sure even you don’t want to live on just spit alone every time!” Dee added.  
  
Ryo’s hands were clenched in fists as he got into Dee’s face. “Shut up! You know what you got when we got together! I’m not the type to run around and tell everyone who does and doesn’t want to know about my sexual orientation, or brag about what we do in the bedroom, asshole! You know that! If you can’t live with that, then it’s your problem. Not mine!” His fists shook as he barely resisted the urge to strike at Dee, who had taken a step back. “And I do buy the lube!”  
  
“Not the type we can use every time,” Dee pointed out. He shook his head. “And I knew what I got into two years ago! I thought with time, you’d settle down and figure out it’s not a fuckin’ sin to be what you are. Holy Christ, Ryo! Grow the fuck up and face what you are already!”  
  
Ryo’s mouth pressed into a thin line as he glared at Dee.  
  
“You’re living with a man,” Dee continued, unfazed. “Or have you forgotten that? Maybe you want to pretend that I’m your fuckin’ wife? Your wife, Dee. Huh?”  
  
“Bullshit!”  
  
Dee leaned closer. “Do you really believe the neighbors where you lived didn’t know what we were doing? Or that everyone in his building believes we’re only roommates? Especially the Andersons, with their bedroom below ours?”  
  
Ryo blushed. “I --…”  
  
“It’s not like we’ve never walked down the streets holding hands or any of that stuff. It’s not like everyone we know thinks we’re only friends. We’re not hiding this relationship that far back in the closet, so don’t give me that crap.”  
  
Ryo took a step back from Dee. “I changed my whole life for you, you jerk! I told you I’m not… I was…. FUCK!” He turned and stormed off to the living room.  
  
Dee quickly followed Ryo. “You’re not what?” he insisted.  
  
“Goddammit, Dee! Why do you always push and push and push!?!” Ryo insisted, turning on Dee in the middle of the living room. “You did from the moment we met, and now you’re doing it again! So I’m not open about my sex life. I’m SO sorry! If you were a woman, it wouldn’t be any different, if that’s what you’re thinking!”  
  
Dee frowned, staring at Ryo. “I’m thinking you were about to say you’re not gay and that you were straight until I ‘forced’ you otherwise. That’s what I’m thinking.” The frown got deeper, and a flash of hurt appeared in his eyes. “And I’m not liking it.” He shook his head.  
  
Dee’s shoulders slumped as he went over to a chair and dropped heavily down in it. With his head down, he ran this hands through his hair.  
  
Ryo watched as Dee lost his fire and a lump formed in his throat as he watched the man sitting in the chair shake his head again wearily.  
  
“I’d have thought you’d have taken the time to know me better, you know,” Dee said, still not looking up, all anger gone from his voice.  
  
“Dee…” Ryo said, his voice level.  
  
Dee lifted his head to look at Ryo. “When have you known me to talk about my sex life in detail? What do you know about my past relationships?”  
  
“I….”  
  
“You think I was comfortable with my outburst on that train? You think it felt good to announce to all those strangers that I don’t like to be dry fucked?”  
  
“You don’t care what other people think,” Ryo remarked. “Why should you now?”   
  
Dee shook with repressed anger. “There’s a limit, Ryo! You should know that by now, dammit!”  
  
Ryo crossed his arms over his chest as he looked down at Dee.  
  
“I don’t care that others know I’m bi, or that I’m living with a man that I love very much.”  
  
Ryo’s eyes softened as he heard the proclamation from Dee.  
  
Dee ran his hands through his hair again. “But I’m not too keen on going further than that. You should know that!” Instead of anger, there was a trace of anguish in Dee’s voice. He shook his head. “If we were out to everyone at work, do you honestly believe I’d be going in and telling them which one of us did who the night before?”  
  
Ryo shrugged as his gaze dropped to the floor.  
  
“Haven’t you noticed that I’m not like Ted or Drake? Or even JJ?”  
  
“I know that, Dee,” Ryo replied softly.  
  
“I don’t care what anyone thinks. But I’m still a goddamn private person too!”  
  
Ryo’s head lifted then. “Ah yes? So that’s why you just chat on casually about what kind of lube we could use in front of strangers! And with that, I mean those women at the store!”  
  
Dee ran his hands through his hair again, before looking up at Ryo. “I wasn’t talking to myself at that point, if I remember correctly. And you signaled that we weren’t alone in the aisle anymore. I seem to recall our discussion stopping about then.” His piercing gaze fixed on Ryo. “Was I imagining you were standing behind me, pointing out a $14 bottle of lube?”  
  
“No,” Ryo said quietly.  
  
Dee leaned back in the chair and folded his arms.  
  
Ryo looked at Dee again. “But if I hadn’t walked on, you’d have just chatted on about it, despite those women standing next to us. Explain how that is a ‘private person’ to me?”  
  
Dee jumped from the chair. “I didn’t see them! Dammit, Ryo! Stop trying to twist this!”  
  
Ryo let out a snort, and shook his head.  
  
“You’re fuckin’ acting like I was yelling at the top of my lungs. Instead of low for only you to hear.”  
  
Ryo bit his lip before shaking his head again. “Look. Okay, you want me to admit that I’m embarrassed when something like that happens? Fine. I am. Satisfied now?”  
  
Dee seemed to ignore what Ryo said and prattled on. “But yes, when the cashier is male and asking if I want to use that tube of lube, that you left me alone to buy, on him…. Yes, I’m going to tell him I already have plans on using it on someone else.”  
  
“What?” Ryo demanded.  
  
“Well!” Dee shrugged. “We do most of our shopping in the Village.” Ryo continued to stare at him. “You know, the one you said reminds you of JJ.”  
  
Ryo’s eyes got hard. “Yes?” he demanded.  
  
“He’s always asking me when I’ll be ready to use it on him. Which is why I stopped buying it there.” Dee shrugged again.  
  
Anger and embarrassment were quickly replaced by possessiveness in Ryo. “And you kept that little story from me, why?” he insisted.  
  
Dee frowned. “Because maybe if you had been standing next to me, instead of outside the store, you’d have known? Or maybe he might not have asked at all, if he saw us together.”  
  
“I’m not your babysitter, Dee, dammit!”  
  
“No one is asking you to be.” Dee pointed a finger at Ryo. “You’re the one who’s getting all bent out of shape now, because someone dared to ask me out when you’re not around. Obviously I know how to take care of myself and how to say no.” He started to smirk. “I know how you get, Ryo. And this is exactly why I didn’t say anything. It’s nothing. Really. I told him I wasn’t interested each time. I even pointed you out through the window once. Then I just stopped going there when he wasn’t taking the hint.” He held his hand out. “But that’s not the point.” He took a deep breath.  
  
“Then what’s your point?” Ryo snapped. “Because I don’t get it. So you have to buy the lube most of the time? What’s so hard with that? I do stuff for us all the time, that you don’t?”  
  
Dee was struck speechless for a moment, wondering how his partner can so blindly miss the point. Finally he opened his mouth. “What’s so hard with that? Obviously something or else you’d be buying it too and we wouldn’t be having this discussion. The point is, that I feel if I don’t buy the damn drugstore stuff, we’ll never have a regular sex life.”  
  
“That’s ridiculous,” Ryo scoffed.  
  
“Oh really?” Realizing he was getting nowhere going the obvious route, Dee decided for a different approach. In a low voice he asked, “Do you remember the first time you took me?” Dee held his breath, because he knew he remembered. He also knew Ryo was more likely to forget things that he did not feel was as important as Dee felt.  
  
Ryo raised an eyebrow at the abrupt change of subject, the dark eyes on Dee still steel cold. “Yes,” he hissed. “And?”  
  
“And from then on, it wasn’t always me on top anymore.” Dee’s soft eyes met Ryo’s hard ones. “You commented shortly after how I seemed different somehow. More relaxed.”  
  
“You were…are…were,” Ryo blurted out, not knowing where Dee was going with it.  
  
“It’s called less pressure, Ryo. Remember that first time? How scared you were and why? Later you told me you never realized how many things you had to think about for what seems like such a simple act.”  
  
“Yes,” Ryo agreed, his voice almost as hard as his eyes. “Because that’s what I felt. But for you it’s different. I’m not your first male lover.”  
  
Dee shook his head sadly, realizing Ryo was not going to catch on, as he had hoped. “It doesn’t mean I stop thinking about what will please you first. And you’re right, you were not my first male lover. For years I was the dominant one. Then came you, and it felt good to finally be able to just sit back and let someone else do the work for once.”  
  
Ryo frowned.  
  
Dee let out a nervous laugh. “Hell, I felt so fuckin’ free, I almost suggested a permanent switch for a while,” he admitted.  
  
“Oh?” Ryo asked, sounding hurt. “Is it really that much of a chore for you to please me?”  
  
Dee studied Ryo, then shook his head. “I’d like to think that after all this time, you wouldn’t still feel like such a beginner at it. But yeah, I am your first male lover. And we still more or less do it with me on top. You never had a relationship where you were always the dominant one with another man. You don’t know what it’s like.” Green eyes turned hurt. “A chore, Ryo? Dammit, if I didn’t love you, I’d just blindly slam into you for my own fuckin’ pleasure and not care what you feel!”  
  
“Dee….”  
  
“Look, you really don’t get it. It’s hard to explain it. Only from being in the position for a while you might….” His eyes met Ryo’s again, and he smirked. “So how about this then? From now until further notice, it’s your ballgame, Ryo.”  
  
“No, I don’t get it!” Ryo snapped. “I just don’t see how being on top and buying the lube, connects.”  
  
“Well, it shouldn’t,” Dee insisted, turning to start pacing. “Because I’m bottom at times, and I still buy the fuckin’ lube.”  
  
“So how does this work? Because I’ve been on top. And yes, I know you liked that. Hell, I liked it, too. But what does that have to do with buying the goddamn lube?”  
  
“It’s the same fuckin’ thing!” Dee dropped onto the couch and grabbed a big fluffy pillow, holding it on his lap. “Yeah fine. You do buy all that nice fancy, fun stuff that we dare use only once in a while because of it’s price. But the basic stuff is for times in between. And unless I buy it, there wouldn’t be any time between the once in a while with the good stuff.”  
  
“Hang on!” Ryo held out his hand, going to stand before Dee. “Are you telling me that there’s an unwritten law for gays that if you want to top, buy the lube!?”  
  
Dee tossed the pillow away in frustration. “Jesus Christ, Ryo! I didn’t think you were that dense!” He glared up at Ryo. “I’d probably still end up buying the damn crap three months from now when you’re still top!”  
  
Ryo let out a heavy sigh and dropped on the couch next to Dee. “I give up. I don’t get you and apparently you don’t know how to explain it simple enough, so that a dense airhead like me gets it.” He sounded hurt and had finally lost his fire. “So just tell me what you want me to do, and I’ll do it.” He shook his head sadly as he leaned back into the couch. “Because I’m tired of this discussion.”  
  
“Look, is it too much to ask that if I forget, or don’t buy the damn stuff, if we need it, it’s still in the fuckin’ house?” Dee insisted. “Shit Ryo!” Dee jumped up and started to pace around the living room again. “You can buy Carol’s fuckin’ stuff to keep on hand for when she’s here and it’s her time!” He stopped and glared back at Ryo. Through clenched teeth, he added, “But you can’t buy the fuckin’ lube!”  
  
“Because if I buy Carol’s stuff, everyone knows it’s not for me!” Ryo remarked.  
  
Dee stormed off from the living room to the hallway to pick up the empty tube. As he came back into the living room, tube in hand, he went up to Ryo. “I end up having to buy Carol’s stuff too sometimes. Especially when you insist on putting it on the shopping list when it’s my turn to go shopping. And ya know what, Ryo?” Dee’s fist squeezed on the tube. “It embarrasses the freakin’ hell outta me when I do! But I still buy the shit for Carol!”  
  
Ryo sighed as he ran a hand over his face.  
  
Dee flipped the tube at Ryo. “Okay, you want me to tell you what to do to bring this to an end? I’ll tell you. We’re out! Completely! There’s no fuckin’ lube in the house. So go and get some.” He stood straight and folded his arms.  
  
Ryo stared at Dee with his mouth agape.  
  
“Now?” Ryo asked.  
  
Dee shrugged, appearing to look disinterested. “Whenever. I don’t care when.” He turned to start walking out of the living room, then paused to look back. “But… there will be no sex until then.” He shrugged again. “Up to you.”  
  
“B-but…” Ryo sputtered at Dee’s retreating back.  
  
Without turning around, Dee replied, “You know I’m not very keen on spit. Not every time, at least.”  
  
“Fine,” Ryo sighed.  
  
Starting to walk out of the living room, his back to Ryo, Dee started to smirk. It was a small triumph for Dee.  
  
Ryo got up from the couch and pushed past Dee to enter the bedroom, without looking at Dee. He closed the door behind him and locked it.  
  
Dee started at the closed door of what was his destination. “Shit!” He kicked out at nothing in frustration. He was intending on locking Ryo out for a while longer. He glared at the door. “And I still end up on the fuckin’ couch!”  
  
He ended up going into the kitchen instead to make sure Bikky had put away the groceries he shoved at them earlier. Only then did it occur to him to wonder what Bikky and Carol had been doing while Dee and Ryo had been battling it out over a tube of what Bikky called perv stuff. He noticed a note on the refrigerator to both men in Bikky’s handwriting, saying that him and Carol had gone out before they were further traumatized.  
  
Dee felt a twinge of guilt. When was he going to finally learn that there was more than just him and Ryo to consider? What prevented him from a full hit of guilt was knowing Ryo really was not much better this time.  
  
With a sigh of resignation, he stood in the kitchen, deciding what to make for dinner. Sleeping on the couch and stuck in the kitchen making dinner. Dee wondered if there should be something wrong with that. He went to the shelf where Ryo kept the recipe books and flipped through one to get ideas.   
  
As he debated over what to make, he found himself smirking. He was not sure if Ryo understood, heard or cared about what he had stated in the living room. But Dee had meant it, and vowed to stick to it. It was his safety net, in case Ryo finally came out of the bedroom with the grand idea that he was quite happy with spit with Dee as the top. Dee chuckled as he envisioned the look on Ryo’s face once he realizes that Dee was the bottom until further notice. Which in that case, if Ryo expected to have sex, he would have to go out and provide the proper lubrication. Dee started to frown then. After all this time, it was sad that he was not certain if Ryo would be able to come up with a suitable replacement from what they had in the apartment.  
  
Dee stopped at a page, setting the book down on the counter. He did not have to read the recipe. It was one he had made several times before when it was just him and Bikky at home. It was one of Bikky’s favorite meals whenever Dee cooked. His eyes went back to the note, realizing he had no idea if the boy him and Ryo saw as their son would be back or not in time for dinner. For all he knew, the two teens could be downstairs, sitting on a car until they felt it was safe to come back up again. It had happened before when Dee and Ryo were arguing. He decided to play it safe and have something for everyone to eat, instead of having Bikky return hungry and finding something he did not like to eat. Tuna and pasta cheddar casserole it would be for that night. He snorted. Like there was any need to make some romantic meal should they find themselves at home that night.   
  
Dee set about the task of starting to prepare dinner.


	2. Chapter Two

Ryo sat on the edge of the bed, turning the empty lube tube in his hand. He gnashed his teeth together, feeling as if Dee was forcing him into something he was not ready for yet. It was not fair, he thought. If Dee felt comfortable enough to buy the stuff, and Ryo wasn’t, then if Dee loved him, wouldn’t that mean he would just accept it and buy the lube without question?  
  
Other thoughts followed that, thoughts Ryo determined to be traitorous and shoved them aside.  
  
Of course, Dee loved him. Ryo had no doubt. It was just that Dee could be an asshole sometimes. This was one of those times.  
  
Ryo knew he did know Dee very well. Especially how to push his buttons. He knew how to get Dee to go out and get the lube for them. He looked back at the empty tube in his hand. He couldn’t believe the stupid bastard actually emptied out whatever was left.  
  
An idea formed in his head. He was not mad at Dee. Well, not very mad. It was more his ego had been hurt. Dee was not the only stubborn one between them. It was time to remind his lover of that. Especially to remind Dee that not all the time he was able to out-stubborn Ryo. Ryo shook his head in amusement. Did Dee honestly believe he could hold to that ridiculous statement about no sex until Ryo provided the lube?  
  
All it would take was a little convincing on Ryo’s part to make Dee forget he ever said that.  
  
With a smirk on his face, he stood up from the bed and went into the bathroom to take a shower.  
  
Under the spray of hot water, he soaped himself with the expensive shower gel Dee had given him for Valentine’s Day. It had proven time after time that the scent on Ryo’s body had driven Dee crazy with desire. Ryo giggled as he washed up.  
  
Once he was done in the shower, clad in only a towel, he entered the bedroom whistling. He chose his clothes carefully. He tugged on his tightest pair of jeans – the ones that were faded in all the right places. Then he put on one of Dee’s shirts – his blue and black striped one, knowing very well it was a huge turn on for Dee to see Ryo wearing his clothes. He brushed his hair, then checking his reflection in the mirror, decided to open one more button on the shirt.  
  
Quietly he opened the bedroom door and heard Dee moving around in the living room. He had long assumed that Bikky and Carol had fled the madness before Ryo and Dee had moved it into the living room. He swaggered into the kitchen, an innocent blank look on his face.  
  
Dee was at one of the counters, opening a bag of pasta shells, appearing to not notice he was no longer alone in the kitchen. Ryo stood next to Dee and leaned over, making sure to brush against the other man to open the drawer next to him and get the corkscrew out of the drawer.  
  
“Excuse me,” he calmly said.  
  
Silently, Dee took a step away from the drawer and from Ryo as he placed the bag down to shake some salt into the water cooking on the stove in a medium sized pot.  
  
Ryo shook his head as he took a bottle of wine down from the wine rack. He watched Dee, who still ignored him, pretending to have more to do than he had at the moment. Even Dee did not need to concentrate so hard on boiling water to cook pasta in.  
  
He set the bottle down on the counter, making sure it made a sound. Dee poured the contents of the bag into the water, then started to stir the shells around.  
  
Politely, Ryo asked, “Want some wine, too?”  
  
Eyes still on the pot with the pasta, Dee shook his head. “No thanks.” He went over to the coffeemaker and started to make coffee.  
  
Ryo frowned, hoping he had gotten a different response from Dee. After all, Dee loved wine. As much as beer. He picked up the corkscrew and bottle and started to open it. With a smirk, he started to struggle with getting the corkscrew through the cork.  
  
Dee turned from the stove to walk across the kitchen and reach up to open a cabinet door.  
  
Ryo let out a heavy sigh as he pulled on the corkscrew, not having any luck with pulling it out. Or so he was hoping it appeared to Dee. He did make sure the corkscrew went in a little askew so it would not be so easy to remove the cork from the bottle.  
  
Dee looked back at the sound and seeing the struggle, shook his head.  
  
“Damn thing,” Ryo gripped, still trying to pull the cork out.  
  
Without saying a word, Dee moved across the kitchen to take the bottle from Ryo. His hand on the bottle Ryo still held, he said, “Trying to say I’m stronger than you?”  
  
Ryo relinquished his hold on both bottle and corkscrew, allowing Dee to take it from him. With a good grip on the corkscrew, Dee started to pull it out, apparently with no trouble.  
  
As the cork came from the bottle, Ryo cocked an eyebrow at Dee, sizing him up with his eyes. “Thanks,” he said as Dee set both bottle and corkscrew on the counter.  
  
Dee nodded and went back to the other side of the kitchen, to close the cabinet door.  
  
Ryo took out a wine glass and poured himself a glass. Leaning against the counter, with his hips jutted out just a little, he swirled the wine around. He took a sip, his eyes watching Dee over the top of the glass. He found some satisfaction in knowing Dee was putting more attention to things than he needed, making himself more busy than he had to as he opened a door and then closed it, rummaging through drawers before deciding there was nothing he needed in there. That meant Dee was not as oblivious to Ryo’s carefully planned presence in the kitchen and, he was having the desired effect on the other man. Soon enough, Dee would find himself unable to do anything else but notice Ryo.  
  
And then Ryo would make Dee take back all this words from earlier, while both men would have some fun too.  
  
Dee’s back was to him again, and Ryo’s eyes fell on Dee’s well rounded backside that his jeans seemed to hug just perfectly. He continued to watch mesmerized as Dee opened a bottom door and bent over to search around their baking pans. Ryo bite his lip as he felt a stirring in his nether regions at the sight.  
  
He lifted his glass to his lips and downed the rest of the wine.  
  
Dee was reaching for something in the back and while trying to remove it around the other items, his backside started to wiggle a little with the effort.  
  
Ryo reached out for the bottle and poured himself another glass, unable to turn away from the show before him. He placed the bottle down on the counter and moved toward Dee.  
  
Standing very close behind the other man, he asked softly, “Need some help?”  
  
Dee stood up, a ceramic casserole dish in his hands. “Nah,” he replied. “I got it. And without having everything else on the floor.” He sounded pleased with himself. He turned and almost bumped into Ryo. “Excuse me.” He stepped aside to close the door.  
  
Ryo took a step with him to allow the door to close, yet still standing very close to Dee, their bodies barely touching. He smiled at Dee. “Need some help with dinner?”  
  
Dee nodded. “Yeah. Open the tuna on that counter there, will ya?” He winked at Ryo. “Thanks.”  
  
Taking a sip of his wine, he moved back from Dee. He set the glass down on the counter next to the cans Dee had put out and picking up the can opener, went about his task.  
  
After Dee put the casserole dish on the counter, he went over to the fridge and looked in. He moved a few items, bending over more to get a better view. “Ryo, where’s the cheddar?” He bent over further, moving more items, his backside once again deliciously swaying with his movements.  
  
Ryo set the can opener down on the counter and went up to Dee. He pulled him back by the shoulder.  
  
“Wha?” Dee asked, slightly annoyed. “I’m not making a mess in there.”  
  
Ryo shook his head and leaned into the space between the fridge and Dee, his chest toward the dark haired man who was frowning a little, and reached behind him into the fridge. He held Dee in place with a hand on the other man’s hip as if he was leaning into him.  
  
Ryo did not notice Dee holding his breath as he watched, forcing his eyes to go onto the striped clad arm going for the brick of cheese.  
  
Without looking, Ryo fished out the cheddar. The hand on Dee’s hip moved to mid abdomen, as he removed the cheddar from the fridge.  
  
Dee grabbed the cheese from Ryo’s hand. “Thanks.”  
  
Ryo pushed Dee back, so he could close the fridge door, as Dee attempted to put more space between them. “You’re welcome,” Ryo said, then brushed past Dee, his wrist brushing over Dee’s groin, making it appear unintentional.  
  
Standing in place, Dee bit his lip, willing himself to stay strong. Taking a deep breath, he forced himself into action, taking out a bowl and removing the cheese grater from a hook with other utensils hanging on the wall. He set about his task of grating the cheese.  
  
Back at the counter, Ryo picked up the open tuna can. He turned and went over to Dee, holding it out. “Tuna?”  
  
Dee absently indicated an area near the stove using the cheese grater. “When the pasta’s ready,” he remarked. “You can put it by the casserole dish. Thanks.” He went back to grating the cheese, putting his full attention on his task.  
  
Ryo gave Dee a slight smile and obediently did as Dee told him, setting the can of tuna down carefully next to the pan. Going back to pick up the lid, he tossed it in the garbage.  
  
“Oh shit,” Dee muttered. “Ryo, I forgot. Can you get a can of cream of mushroom soup and open it too. Please?” He did not look up from grating the cheese as he spoke.  
  
“Sure baby,” Ryo replied with a smile. He went over to the pantry cabinet where they stocked non-perishable items to keep on hand until needed. He opened the door and bent over to look at the shelf where they kept the canned items, very much aware of how tight his jeans were. If only Dee would turn and look now. He decided to make sure Dee would. “Hmm. Weird,” he commented.  
  
“What?” Dee asked as he checked the pasta.  
  
“Either I’m blind or we ran out of mushroom soup.” He remained bent over, reaching in to look through the cabinet.  
  
“Do we have any type of cream soup?” Dee asked.  
  
It sounded to Ryo as if Dee had not turned his head. He just had to work a little harder then. “Umm, lemme see….” He bent over more to rummage about the shelf.  
  
“Any broth? Because I can work with that too, if we have vegetable broth.”  
  
Cans rattled from within the shelf Ryo still poked around in, growing frustrated. He was going to get Dee to look somehow.  
  
“Hey, how about that instant powered soup stuff? Bikky might complain about asparagus, but that would work. I think we still have some. Can you check that, please?”  
  
His face in the cabinet, Ryo frowned. His hand swiped along some cans set one on top of the other.   
  
THUD!  
  
“Oh!” Ryo exclaimed.  
  
“What happened?” Dee asked, still not sounding like he turned. In fact, he sounded further from the stove then he was.  
  
“Damn,” Ryo muttered, then sighed.  
  
Dee turned to see what all the noise was about. It sounded like Ryo was making a grand mess in the cabinet, which was not something he expected to hear. “You okay, Ryo?” he asked, as he saw the struggle.  
  
Finally hearing Dee’s voice coming from an angle that had his partner looking at him, he wiggled his backside in those tight faded jeans, reaching deep into the cabinet.  
  
Dee watched, his eyes going between the wiggling tempting ass and assuring nothing had hit Ryo on the head. Concern for his lover won out over appreciating the view.  
  
“Yeah, I’m fine,” Ryo replied. “Just dropped a can of chicken noodle soup.” He smirked, knowing it was a lie. He knew exactly what he had knocked away.  
  
“Tuna and chicken noodle?” Dee asked uncertainly.  
  
“Ah ha!” Ryo exclaimed, his hand gripping the can he previously swiped over.  
  
“I’m not sure I’m willing to experiment that much,” Dee mused, forcing himself once again to stay strong.   
  
His eyes moved from the delicious sight before him. The seat of those jeans had worn down just the right way, with just a thin film of threads barely holding the material that molded ever so wickedly around Ryo’s luscious ass. He shook his head. It had taken him all of two seconds to identify Ryo’s seduction jeans. Along with wearing Dee’s shirt, which Ryo claimed was his favorite, and that shower gel…. Dee sighed. Ryo knew how to pull out the heavy artillery, but Dee fought to stay strong for once. He had a point to make. There was an issue still between them. One that was not going to go away simply by Dee pouncing Ryo and taking him on the kitchen floor.  
  
He watched as Ryo straightened up, holding a can of cream of mushroom soup in his hand. “Silly, I dropped it,” Ryo said about the chicken noodle soup, turning to face Dee, “while searching for this.” He held up the can in triumph.  
  
“Ah! Great!” Dee exclaimed. “For a moment there, I thought one of us would have to run to the corner store to get some.”  
  
Ryo went over to hand Dee the can. “Nah. We’re lucky this time,” he said seductively, not hiding that he had caught onto the double meaning.  
  
Dee gave Ryo a smirk. “Yeah. Aren’t we?” He stared at the can Ryo placed in his hand, aware of the lack of space between them. He grabbed Ryo’s hand with his free one, then slapped the can into it. “Can you open it too? Please? I need to strain the pasta.”  
  
Ryo barely kept himself from pouting as his dark eyes looked up to Dee’s. “Sure.” He turned away, and stalked across the kitchen to open the can.  
  
Dee was moving about the kitchen as Ryo opened the can. When he turned to hold it out for Dee to take, Dee was standing by the sink. “Here you go, handsome.”  
  
He watched as Dee lifted the strainer and started to shake it, causing his hips to shake a little too. Ryo watched in appreciation as he once again moved to stand close to Dee.  
  
“Um, thanks. But my hands are kinda full here.” He held up the strainer, smiling apologetically at Ryo.  
  
Ryo dipped a finger into the thick concentrate of soup, then licked his finger clean, his eyes on Dee, watching as his lover looked on. Enough was enough, Ryo thought. He never should have offered to help out in the first place, and waited until dinner to seduce Dee into getting his way. As it was, watching Dee in the kitchen being so domestic was yet another huge turn-on for Ryo. Dee acting coy was a turn on too.  
  
‘Goddammit!’ Ryo thought in frustration. ‘There’s too many things that’s a damn turn on concerning Dee. Damn, Dee is a huge freakin’ turn on!’  
  
Ryo convinced himself that the longer Dee wanted to play this game, the sweeter it was going to be for them both when he finally lost. Ryo once again found his reserve.  
  
He noticed Dee had a small frown on his face as he continued to watch Ryo. “What?” he asked Dee. He dipped his finger once more into the soup and slowly licked it clean. “Mmm… Want some?” he asked, licking at a dab of the soup on his lips.  
  
Dee sighed, going back to the pasta. “And you tell me not to stick my fingers in stuff while cooking,” he huffed, assuring no more water dripped from the strainer.  
  
Dee moved to the counter, strainer still in his hands and started to put the shells into the casserole dish. Placing the now empty strainer to the side, Dee said, “I’m ready.”  
  
Ryo’s head snapped up at not only the words, but the tone. He started to smile.  
  
“For the tuna and soup, that is,” Dee corrected, stirring some margarine into the shells.  
  
Ryo picked up the tuna on his quick journey to Dee’s side and set the cans down out of Dee’s reach. He stood close behind Dee, leaning up. He supported his weight with one hand on Dee’s hip again.  
  
Dee paused from to look back at Ryo with an inquiring look. “Still don’t trust me in the kitchen, huh?”  
  
Ryo continued to reach up to turn on the vent over the counter, then the switch for the lighting for just the counter area. He flashed Dee a smile. “Of course I trust you.” He patted Dee’s hip as he pulled away, making sure his other hand brushed against Dee’s backside as he walked over to where he set the cans down.  
  
Picking up both, once again, he moved close to Dee, holding out the cans. “Where to you want me?” His eyes lifted to quickly look at Dee. “This, I mean?” he corrected himself, his eyes going down again.  
  
Dee turned his head and smiled sweetly at Ryo. He was surprised he was able to still play it off after that last comment from Ryo. ‘Where do I want him?’ Dee thought, reminding himself to not give in. ‘Across the room, you fuckin’ sexy bastard before I jump you!’  
  
Ryo looked at the smile, and felt his heart do a flip flop. There was something roguishly innocent in that smile and Ryo had to will himself from bending Dee over the counter.  
  
He realized Dee’s mouth was starting to move and paid attention to the words that came from that sexy mouth.  
  
“Right on the counter would be great,” Dee said innocently. “Cheese now? Please?” He gave Ryo another of those sweet smiles that set Ryo’s heart in a race.  
  
Ryo’s mouth dropped, and he nodded mutely, quickly turning away. ‘On the counter, he says,’ Ryo thought, willing his libido to not give in to such a blatant trick.   
  
It was obvious by then that they were both playing the same game, trying to get the other to bend him over and take him. Whoever could not stop himself and pounce would be the loser of their earlier argument. Ryo took a few calming breaths while his back was to Dee, trying to seek that center he grasped when he needed to stay in control and calm for his job. He was only able to get a tenacious hold at the best and cursed Dee for being so damn sexy.  
  
With the bowl that had the grated cheddar in hand, Ryo moved back to Dee, once again moving close. He handed the bowl to Dee with his own sweet smile. “Here you go.” Before Dee could move the bowl away, he stole a bit of the cheese. Eyes again on Dee, seeing the struggle in his partner’s green eyes, he seductively placed the cheese along with the tips of his fingers into his mouth. Then ever so briefly, he sucked on his fingertips.  
  
Dee shook himself, putting his attention back on the meal he was preparing.  
  
Ryo leaned closer into Dee’s personal space and took a deep breath, inhaling the aroma of Dee’s meal. “Mmm… smells good.”  
  
Dee held his breath, as he had been doing whenever Ryo moved too close when possible. He had been trying not to get too strong a whiff of Ryo’s personal scents. Especially that gel mingling with the scents that Dee associated as Ryo, and found sexy without any gel. Dee started to stir everything in the casserole dish.  
  
“Thanks,” Dee replied.  
  
Ryo sighed and leaned over to give Dee a soft peck on the corner of his mouth. “I’ll go set the table,” he said. Then he set off for the dining area with a swagger, his hips swaying.  
  
Dee waited until Ryo left the kitchen before he shook his head and sighed. With a tiny shrug, he went to put the casserole into the oven. He poured a cup of coffee, then leaning against the counter, stared at the wine bottle still on the counter.  
  
*** *** ***  
  
Ryo let out a sigh as he set out the placemats and napkins for two, then wondered if it would be just him and Dee eating. He also realized he did not take any dishes with him when he left the kitchen.  
  
Quietly, he approached the doorway to the kitchen and saw Dee leaning against the counter, drinking his coffee. His eyes were on the oven and appearing to be in thought. Idly his free hand lifted and he scratched his chest, seeming to be not aware of his action.  
  
Ryo bit his lip and suppressed a moan at the subconscious, yet very masculine action. He continued to watch Dee, admiring his lover, thinking about how sexy Dee can be even when he was not trying. His breath caught as once again he thought about how much he loved the dark haired, green eyed man in the kitchen.  
  
He watched as Dee let out a heavy sigh and shook his head. Dee pushed away from the counter, and setting his mug down, started to clean up in the kitchen.  
  
Ryo bit his lip again, but for another reason. He was able to read Dee well enough to know when his partner was angry. All anger in Dee had been gone long ago, before Ryo had pushed past Dee to get into the bedroom. Ryo studied Dee a bit more, realizing the other man did not let go of their argument completely. Dee was upset.   
  
However silly Ryo felt Dee was being over a stupid tube of lube, Ryo finally realized how much it was upsetting the man he loved. Whatever fire still left in him from the argument, fled at that moment. As he watched Dee, he knew then no matter what he thought about the entire thing, he had hurt Dee.  
  
With a sigh, he pushed away from the wall he had been partially hiding behind during his study and entered the kitchen. “Do you think Biks and Carol will be back for dinner?” he asked Dee.  
  
Dee paused in wiping down a counter to shrug. “I don’t know,” he replied, going back to his cleaning. “Which is why I settled for this. I know Bikky likes it.”  
  
Ryo went to the counter where he left his wine glass and picked it up. “I see,” he said carefully, then took another sip.  
  
Dee started to fold and refold the dishtowel, his back still to Ryo. “I would have made something that only you and I liked if I was certain they wouldn’t be back.” He shrugged.  
  
Ryo let out a heavy sigh, and drained the contents of his glass. He put the glass down again and started to walk over to Dee.  
  
Dee let out another sigh as he finally hung up the dish towel. He started when Ryo suddenly took his hands in his own.  
  
“Come here,” Ryo said softly.  
  
“What?” Dee asked.  
  
Ryo turned Dee to face him and wrapped his arms around Dee’s waist. “I’m sorry, baby,” he apologized. “I didn’t mean to yell at you.”  
  
“I – I didn’t want to yell on the train, you know.” Dee’s tone was a bit hesitant and defensive.  
  
“I know, love.”  
  
Dee finally placed his arms around Ryo.  
  
Ryo kissed Dee’s cheek, then hugged him tighter.  
  
Dee rested his head on Ryo’s shoulder. “I don’t know, Ryo. It’s been bothering me for a while,” he admitted.  
  
Ryo simply nodded, waiting for Dee say whatever else he felt he had to.  
  
“I mean, I tried to ignore it and all, but…. But I couldn’t anymore.”  
  
Ryo ran his fingers through Dee’s hair. “I’ll try to be better for you,” he said quietly.  
  
“Look, I’m not asking you to announce your sexuality on a billboard somewhere… Just… Damn.” He clamped his mouth shut, as if he was suddenly afraid to go on, fearing he’d stumble and say something wrong.  
  
“Shhh,” Ryo soothed. “No more talking about that.”  
  
Dee simply sighed with his head still on Ryo’s shoulder.  
  
“I know it’s bothering you, and even if I probably still don’t comprehend it all, I’ll do my best to make this right for you, baby. Okay?”  
  
Dee nodded and finally lifted his head. “Thanks. I mean, it’s a little thing, but…” He looked into Ryo’s eyes. “It means a lot to me.”  
  
Ryo rubbed Dee’s back, smiling up at him. “I know. And that’s all I need to know. Just give me some time, alright?”  
  
“Yeah.” He bit his lip.  
  
Ryo knew immediately Dee was clamming up on him again. “What?” he cajoled gently.  
  
Dee shook his head.  
  
“No. Tell me.” He gave Dee a small squeeze, pulling him a little closer.  
  
Dee sighed again. Softly, he said, “Ryo, let’s not start this again. Please?”  
  
“You know, I don’t like it when you keep stuff to yourself. It just builds up and up and up, and then you suddenly burst. And we’re alone now. You don’t have to worry about what you say.”  
  
“And we’re getting along. Besides, how many times I don’t know how to tell you stuff when I know what I want to say. So when I don’t… I’m just going to mess it all up. You know me.”  
  
Ryo sighed again.  
  
Dee looked into Ryo’s eyes again and smiled gently. “You’re fuckin’ amazing, you know that. Because I’ve never been so flustered around someone as I do around you at times.” His smile grew.  
  
Pulling Dee to him in another hug, Ryo let out a chuckle, his cheek to Dee’s. He whispered into the ear that was near his mouth. “And your being flustered has an effect on me.” He kissed the ear so temptingly close and causing a stirring in his groin. “I love you, baby,” he sighed.  
  
“Ryo… I love you too.”  
  
Ryo chuckled again, still whispering in Dee’s ear. “You’re cute when you get flustered.” He kissed the ear again.  
  
“Geez…” Dee sighed, then rolled his eyes.  
  
Ryo gave Dee another squeeze. “And don’t think I didn’t notice that rolling of your eyes there. I have eyes in the back of my head around here, and you know it.” He laughed softly.  
  
“What?” Dee asked innocently.  
  
“I see everything.”  
  
“You know what that means when I roll my eyes when I’m flustered, so don’t bait me.” He sounded amused, and grinned.  
  
Ryo pulled his head back so he could look at Dee’s face. Innocently he asked, “Me? Baiting? Never.”  
  
Dee gazed at him. “Stop.” He let out a laugh.  
  
“Stop? What? I’m not doing anything.”  
  
“Yes you. Because I know you’re not that innocent.”  
  
“Me?” He batted his eyelashes at Dee.  
  
“Ryo,” Dee warned with a laugh. He moved his head to briefly kiss Ryo.  
  
Rubbing his nose against Dee’s, Ryo asked, “Yes?”  
  
“Just saying your name.” Dee smiled. “You know I love it as much as I love you.”  
  
“Mhmn.” He grinned.  
  
“Dinner will be ready in five minutes,” Dee announced, pushing away slightly.  
  
“Good. I’m hungry. Boy, am I hungry.”  
  
Dee raised an eyebrow, gazing at Ryo suspiciously. “Really?” he asked.  
  
“Yeah. Starving actually.”  
  
“Well, you’re going to have to let me go soon, so one of us can get the food out of the oven.”  
  
“Just a moment,” Ryo insisted. He hugged Dee again, pulling him close again, then pressed his face in the crook between Dee’s shoulder and neck.  
  
“Hmm?” Dee muttered.  
  
Ryo sighed.  
  
Running a hand through Ryo’s hair, Dee asked, “What?”  
  
Ryo shook his head. Pulling back, he briefly kissed Dee and releasing the other man, moved away.  
  
Dee stood in place, watching him.  
  
“I’ll call Bikky’s cell,” Ryo said, going to the phone. “See if they’ll be back for dinner or not.” He picked up the phone from the wall.  
  
Dee shrugged as Ryo dialed Bikky’s cell phone number and waited for their son to answer. He shook himself from studying Ryo, and grabbing potholders, he went over to the oven to get their food out. He bent over as he opened the oven door to get the casserole out.  
  
Ryo’s eyes watched for a moment before turning away from the alluring sight. Finally he heard an answer. “Oh hey, Biks,” he said into the phone.  
  
Dee put the dish on a plate warmer and grabbed a serving spoon, listening to Ryo speak on the phone. He walked to the table to put the food down.  
  
“Where did you ‘n Ca… Uh huh. Ah, okay, I see…. Yeah… yeah, don’t worry… No no, everything’s fine…. Yeah, sorry for that…. Mhmm…. Okay, look will you and Carol be back for din—ah, okay, I see…. No, it’s alright. Yes, you may stay overnight. Alright, have fun, you two! See ya tomorrow.” He hung up the phone sighing.  
  
“Just you and me, huh?” Dee asked, coming back into the kitchen to grab a couple of plates.   
  
Ryo turned to Dee. “Yeah.”  
  
“Do you mind?” he asked, thrusting out his chin at the wine. “Oh well, we can live on kid’s food tonight,” he said jokingly. He smiled at Ryo.  
  
“Mhm,” Ryo remarked with a nod. “You having?” he asked, going over to the wine.  
  
“Yeah,” Dee called back.  
  
Ryo grabbed an extra glass before picking up his glass and the bottle, then headed over to have dinner with the man he loved. He hoped He found he wanted to make it up to Dee for upsetting him. He wanted to make Dee’s eyes sparkle again. He knew there was no love lost because of the argument. It did not matter. Dee accepted his apology, but there was still something bothering Dee. It was whatever he was afraid to say. Ryo was going to make sure Dee said it by the night’s end, and then do whatever he could to make up it up to Dee.   
  
He sighed. He knew one thing he could do. It was far from late in the evening. It was New York City if it was that late.  
  
But that one thing, Ryo knew as much as he wanted to do it for Dee, he was just not ready yet.


	3. Chapter Three

Dee already was sitting at the table and filling his plate when Ryo placed the wine bottle and Dee’s glass on the table. He sat down in a chair, drinking his wine.  
  
Dee picked up Ryo’s plate and started to fill it, before handing it to him.  
  
“Thank you,” Ryo remarked, taking the plate. He put it down before him and started to pick at it listlessly.  
  
“There must be some unwritten law about the person who cooks having to load up the plates,” Dee joked, then laughed.  
  
Ryo looked up to smile at Dee. He watched as his partner started to eat with gusto.  
  
“Not bad,” Dee remarked. “If I do say so myself.” He pointed his fork at Ryo’s plate. “You should try a little with your wine.”  
  
Ryo put down his fork to pick up his wine glass. He downed the rest of the glass, and immediately picked up the bottle to pour himself more. He put his chin in his hand and picked up the fork again, eating a little.  
  
As he ate, Dee watched Ryo in concern. He set down his fork to pour himself some wine. When his glass was full, he lifted the bottle more to check on its contents. Shaking his head, he put the bottle down, his eyes going back to Ryo.  
  
Ryo noticed Dee’s study of him and forced a reassuring smile that did not quite make it.  
  
Taking a sip of wine, Dee asked quietly, “What’s on your mind?”  
  
Ryo shrugged, pushing around the food on his plate. “Nothin’.” He took a another small bite of the food, chewing slowly. Upon swallowing, he said, “’S good.”  
  
Eating again, his eyes still on Ryo, Dee replied, “Thanks.”  
  
Ryo put down the fork to pick up his glass and drank more wine.  
  
“Easy there, babe,” Dee cautioned, putting his fork down.  
  
“Hmm?” Ryo asked absently, finishing his glass.  
  
“We have all night and we’re almost out of wine.” He picked up his own glass in his left hand and took a drink, looking over the rim at Ryo.  
  
Ryo shrugged and picking up the bottle, filled his glass again. He lifted the glass to his lips and muttered under his breath, “Not the only thing we’re out of….”  
  
“Game’s on tonight,” Dee stated, sounding casual. “At least beer’s good with that.” He lifted his eyes to meet Ryo’s. “Even if I do like sitting on the couch, watching the game with you, sipping wine, while in your arms.”  
  
“I like that too,” Ryo said with a gentle smile. He moved his chair closer to Dee.  
  
“Cuddling,” Dee said absently, picking up his fork again. “I like cuddling.” The smile on his face said he enjoyed it very much.  
  
Ryo reached over with his left arm and started to finger the strands of Dee’s hair over his ear. “Mhmm, me too,” he agreed.  
  
Dee started to smile more. “With you, I’m more than happy cuddling.” His head leaned as if by it’s own will into Ryo’s touch.  
  
With his head resting in his right hand, leaning on his elbow, Ryo continued to play with Dee’s hair, watching his partner’s face. His plate was still almost full.  
  
Dee took another bite of his food, his plate almost empty. “Thought you were starving?” he asked, his eyes on Ryo’s plate.  
  
Ryo shrugged as he continued to play with Dee’s hair, and watching him.  
  
Using his own fork, Dee picked up food from Ryo’s plate and held it out close to Ryo’s mouth. “Here,” he said gently.  
  
Ryo eyed the fork for a moment, then opened his mouth, allowing Dee to feed him.  
  
“Good!” Dee exclaimed, going to pick up more food. He smiled at Ryo. “For a moment there, I thought you were going to make me do the airplane thing.”  
  
Ryo chuckled, his mind replaying images of Dee at the orphanage during a meal and helping some of the younger ones eat. Watching Dee with the children at the orphanage always warmed Ryo’s heart. He took another bite from Dee, then shuffled his chair closer. He picked up his fork and reaching over to the little left on the other’s plate, he started to feed Dee.  
  
Dee moved Ryo’s plate so it was in front of him. They continued to feed each other. When Dee’s plate was empty, Ryo started to pick food from his own plate. They giggled and laughed. When the last of the food was gone, they set down their forks.  
  
Ryo went back to playing with Dee’s hair and ear. “Bikky’s staying the night at Carol’s.”  
  
“I heard,” Dee said as he picked up his wine glass.  
  
“He’ll be back tomorrow afternoon.”  
  
“What’s he up to until then?” Dee asked.  
  
“Movie with Carol tonight and a game of street basketball tomorrow with some friends,” Ryo explained.  
  
“Ah,” Dee nodded. “Nice quiet day off for us then, huh?”  
  
“Yeah.”  
  
Dee frowned a little as he put his glass down. “I really feel bad that they felt they had to leave.”  
  
“Yeah,” Ryo agreed, then surprised Dee when he let out a chuckle. At Dee’s questioning look, he answered, “Bikky said next time we fight about sex to just kick them out before we start yelling at each other.”  
  
Dee chuckled. “Yeah. Guess he doesn’t want to hear all that perv stuff.”  
  
“No, he doesn’t.” Ryo grinned at Dee. “He said he doesn’t want to see it either.”  
  
“I still need to work on that temper of mine, huh?” Dee asked, frowning.  
  
Ryo smiled gently as he traced a fingertip along the shell of Dee’s ear. “Guess. My temper is not that much better either, huh?” When he saw the ghost of a smile on Dee’s lips, he leaned closer so he could whisper into the ear he was playing with. “I like your hot… temper.”  
  
Dee’s smile was devilish. “Well honestly? I’m glad you can stand your ground to me,” he admitted. “Means we’re more a match for each other.” He grinned, then suddenly it was replaced with a small frown again. “See it? When did he see it?” Dee sounded worried.  
  
“He didn’t,” Ryo said lightly. “And he wants us to make sure it stays that way.”  
  
Dee visibly looked relieved. “Well, I guess we would have heard if we traumatized him if he had,” he reasoned.  
  
Ryo’s hand moved from Dee’s hair to take his hand and lifted it to his lips. He paused, before kissing the palm, looking into Dee’s eyes. “Mhmm.”  
  
Dee smiled at Ryo.  
  
Ryo started to kiss each fingertip of the hand he held.  
  
Dee pointed to the rest of the food still in the casserole dish. “Dinner’s getting cold.” He let out a chuckle, his eyes on his hand still being held by Ryo. “But that’s the only thing getting cold around here.”  
  
“Really?” Ryo asked, perking up. He kissed Dee’s wrist. Encouraged by the soft sigh that escaped Dee’s lips, he nuzzled the wrist.  
  
Dee let out another sigh. “Nice.”  
  
Using the hand he held, he tugged Dee close to him, then wrapped his arm around Dee’s neck. He kissed his temple. “So, who’s playing tonight? I forgot.”  
  
“Knicks and the Celts,” Dee replied softly, obviously loving the attention Ryo was bestowing upon him.  
  
“Oh? My money’d be on the Celts then,” Ryo remarked, then grinned.  
  
Dee raised an eyebrow. “Oh yeah? I’ll be taking your money then,” he countered, then mumbled under his breath, “I hope. Damn Knicks this season.”  
  
Ryo let out a laugh. “Aw…” He nuzzled Dee’s forehead. “Wanna tell me now what you didn’t want to earlier,” he asked. “Because otherwise it’ll bother me all evening and I won’t be able to relax. You so don’t want an unrelaxed Celts fan near you when your Knicks lose.” He smiled sweetly at Dee.  
  
Dee let out a sigh and pulled away from Ryo. “Are we finished here?” He once again indicated the remaining food.  
  
Ryo shook his head. “Not yet. And you can leave the cleaning up to me, since you cooked.”  
  
Picking up his wine glass, Dee let out another heavy sigh. He sipped his wine, a thoughtful look on his face.  
  
“Still don’t wanna tell me?”  
  
Dee shrugged. “Guess you’re gonna know soon enough the way you’re going.”  
  
“Hmmm?”  
  
Looking down at his glass, Dee stated, “No lube in the house.”  
  
Ryo’s fingers were currently playing with the fine hair on Dee’s neck at the base of his hairline. “I know. And?”  
  
“I still mean what I said. About being bottoms for a while. And you know I like it…. Well, you are pretty thick and all,” Dee admitted. He gritted his teeth and damned his partner for having the effect he had over him. At least he was able to still hold his ground, but Ryo was once again causing him to be flustered.  
  
Ryo closed his eyes and swallowed. “I’m pretty…thick?” he asked, amazed.  
  
“Yeah. I mean, I don’t mind some pain. It’s even fun at times, but…” He shook his head, knowing he was about to ramble. “Yeah,” he started again. “You are. Thick. Fat.”  
  
Ryo found himself blushing. “D-did I hurt you ever when we… you know, did it?”  
  
“Just a little,” Dee answered honestly. “Nothing to be worried about. Like I said, a little pain is fine. But well…” He finally looked up at Ryo, meeting his eyes. “You need more than just spit, baby.”  
  
Ryo smiled, but blushed harder.  
  
“Only in that area, you’re fat. The rest of you….” Green eyes swept in Ryo’s body appreciatively. “You’re perfect,” he smiled.  
  
“You’re not so bad yourself, either,” Ryo remarked in a husky tone. “Damn, I’d even say you’re perfect-er than me.”  
  
Dee softly caressed Ryo’s cheek.  
  
“Maybe we can improvise?” Ryo dared to ask.  
  
“Dude, I’m not into Crisco,” Dee joked. “So don’t even think it.” He smiled and winked at Ryo.  
  
“Umm, I didn’t think so.” He frowned a little. Not that Ryo was thinking of actually using the cooking shortening, but it was a long running joke between them. A joke that was born from Dee’s early days of exploring that side of his bisexuality as a teen and being new and stupid. Dee had told Ryo that story shortly after they got together, during one of the times Ryo was feeling bad for being so inexperienced. Dee would hold him and tell him stories that would make the two of them laugh of his early days, and the times when Dee or his partner at the time did not have much experience. The ongoing use of the joke was a reminder for Ryo that there was once a time Dee was inexperienced, and had stayed that way longer than Ryo, once he became sexually active with Dee, until Dee had finally met someone who knew what he was doing. It had bolstered Ryo’s courage in the early months of their relationship, and still had an effect almost two years later. Ryo was far from the beginner, and in Dee’s opinion, very experienced and accomplished as a lover, even if he was still shy in some areas.  
  
“Look, there’s other stuff we can do,” Dee offered, willing to find a compromise, despite his still holding out on his terms.  
  
“I think we still have some massage oil somewhere,” Ryo mused.  
  
Dee snuggled closer to Ryo, putting his arms around him. “We can sit on the couch with you playing with my hair like you’re been doing,” Dee suggested softly. He smiled lovingly at Ryo. “I really like that, you know.”  
  
Ryo sighed, shaking himself from his own stupidity. “Dee, we don’t have to do anything at all, if you don’t want to. Maybe we should try and not jump into bed every time immediately after we have a fight.” He shrugged. “I like this too, Dee.”  
  
Dee nodded. “That’s what I’m thinking. I-I think I just want to spend the night being close to you.”  
  
“Ah!” Ryo relaxed into Dee’s hold. “Finally, we’re on the same agenda. I’m right here, and I’m not planning on going anywhere.” He held Dee tighter.  
  
“I guess for a while there… I mean, after holding out for two years and all, and you discovering yourself, sex seemed the answer to everything. When I should know better.” His hold on Ryo became tighter.  
  
Ryo nuzzled Dee’s ear. Softly he said, “Sex with you is always amazing. I love it. I want it. I could do it every night, you know. Hell, even every day. I know how you feel moving against me, inside me or around me.” He nuzzled Dee again. “But yeah, maybe we should try something else for a change.”  
  
Dee nodded, rubbing his lips against Ryo’s cheek. “I was just going to say,” he said. “Maybe… we need to step back a bit and remember to appreciate the things that made us fall in love.”  
  
Ryo pulled away abruptly to stare at Dee’s face, a worried frown on his. “St-step back?”  
  
Smiling softly, Dee kissed Ryo’s nose. “Don’t look worried, sexmuffin.”  
  
“You’re not… I mean…” Ryo started to sputter, still looking nervous.  
  
“I don’t mean taking a break,” Dee said, caressing Ryo’s cheek.  
  
Ryo let out a heavy breath as Dee pulled Ryo into a tight hug. Into his ear, he whispered, “I just meant not to fall into the sack every time. When was the last night we spent in each other’s arms, just kissing?” He started to nuzzle Ryo’s neck again.  
  
“Yesterday?” Ryo asked, then groaned. Then he let out a chuckle. He was starting to understand what Dee meant.  
  
“Just kissing,” Dee said. He pulled back to grin at Ryo. “I kinda remember being on my knees at one point last night.” His grin grew wolfish.  
  
“Just kissing?” Ryo asked, thinking. “No hands, nothing? Just lips on lips?” He grinned back at Dee.  
  
“Yeah.”   
  
Ryo shrugged. “I don’t know. Before we hooked up?” he asked.  
  
Dee gazed at Ryo, his face in thought. He looked as if he was latching onto an idea, and a scary one at that.  
  
“Dee?” Ryo asked nervous. “I don’t think I like that look you have on your face right now.”  
  
“You know, think about it. The heat that would be built up by the time we finally allow ourselves past that point again.” He leaned in to passionately kiss Ryo.  
  
Ryo returned the kiss hungrily. When they finally parted for air, Ryo said, “You’re not suggesting what I think you are suggesting?” He didn’t know whether to be shocked or horrified.  
  
“Stroking is fine,” Dee murmured. “I love when you run your hands down my back.” He kissed Ryo again, his hands going along Ryo’s shoulder muscles. “As much as I love doing this.”  
  
Ryo sighed at the touch. “What about stroking… more than just your back?” he asked.  
  
Dee shrugged in Ryo’s hold. “Well, arms are okay, I guess.”  
  
Ryo raised an eyebrow, then briefly kissed Dee’s lips. “And OTHER parts?” he asked slyly.  
  
“I’m sure we can do this too,” Dee replied then started to nuzzle Ryo’s neck again.  
  
Ryo sighed, his hands stroking along Dee’s back.  
  
Dee chuckled. “Okay, what other parts are you thinking?” he asked and cocked his head in question as he studied Ryo’s face.  
  
“What about this?” Ryo moved an arm from around Dee to rub his hand over Dee’s crotch. He smiled as he watched Dee throw his head back and moan from the sudden and unexpected move. “Allowed?” he asked.  
  
“Umm…” Dee tried to answer, distracted by Ryo’s hand that was still rubbing and stroking the body part in question. “M-may… yeah,” he finally decided before letting out a blissful sigh.  
  
Ryo leaned over to whisper huskily in Dee’s ear, “And my lips on that particular body part are allowed too? Or not.” He nibbled Dee’s earlobe, while his hand still massaged Dee’s throbbing groin.  
  
Dee sighed again. “Yessss…..”  
  
Ryo smirked and moved his head. “And that’s no sex how?” he inquired.  
  
Dee lifted his head, appearing to look in shock. “Uh? Well, how about no penetration then?” he corrected. He shrugged ruefully, knowing he fell into Ryo’s trap. “Damn you, Ryo,” he remarked.  
  
“Well, wouldn’t you be penetrating my mouth, Detective Laytner?” Ryo asked smugly, grinning at Dee.  
  
Dee shook his head in amazement, trying to figure out what the hell had just happened. He peered at Ryo, lifting his hand from Ryo’s back and shook a finger at his sexy partner. “You know, you’re damn lucky I’m not like you, Detective MacLean. Because if I was, we’d have slept together much earlier than we had.”  
  
“Oh?” Ryo asked innocently.  
  
“You’re a sneaky bastard and don’t know when to let up. I know what you want and try as I am, I can’t resist you. Especially when you’re naughty.”  
  
Ryo chuckled, oddly pleased at the compliment coming from Dee. “You’re holding up quite well so far though,” he decided to remind his lover.  
  
“Yeah, I’m up all right,” Dee said, licking his lips, his eyes glancing down to the hand still gently rubbing his crotch.  
  
“Hell, I spent half the tube of that shower gel just to seduce you and you didn’t even blink an eye at me in the kitchen,” Ryo confessed.  
  
Dee laughed, shaking his head. “Because once I knew what you used, I kept holding my breath whenever you were around me.”  
  
Ryo pulled his hand back from Dee’s crotch and gaped at him. “What? You’re kidding me!”  
  
Dee indicated with his hand toward Ryo. “And those clothes? Why do you think I kept myself busy and didn’t look at you.”  
  
Ryo tried to scowl at Dee. “Bastard.” He shook his head and decided to kiss Dee anyway.  
  
“Hell Ryo. You know if I didn’t, there’d have been some serious heat in the kitchen and dinner would still not be close to ready,” Dee admitted with a laugh.  
  
Ryo pulled away from Dee abruptly. “Wait! For that you need to get punished!”  
  
Dee raised an eyebrow. “Oh really? What do you have in mind?”  
  
“Hmm…. Gonna have to think on that a bit. And wait for when we can have real fun again before I can punish you.” He winked at Dee.  
  
Dee’s mouth dropped open, then he tried to look annoyed. “Fine. Have it your way.” He smiled. “Let me clarify penetration for you. Nothing goes up my ass without some sort of proper lube or a decent alternative. Or else you will know when you’re really hurting me,” he warned, his face becoming serious as he spoke his last sentence.  
  
Ryo nodded in agreement. “Yeah, okay. I heard you loud and clear. For how long do you want to do this?”  
  
Dee grinned. “Don’t know how long.” He shrugged casually. “I guess it’s up to you.”  
  
“And what about you penetrating me? Other than my mouth, that is.”  
  
Dee shook his head, a wicked teasing smile on his face. “Nope,” he replied. “None of that. We switched. Remember? I’m no tops until further notice.”  
  
Ryo pouted his lips, his eyes wide as he gazed at Dee. “For how long?” he asked.  
  
Dee shrugged, placing his arms around Ryo’s neck. “Oh, I don’t know.” He looked thoughtful, enjoying the combination of nervousness and excitement coming from Ryo. “A week maybe? A month? Whenever….” He nuzzled the base of Ryo’s neck, trying hard not to smirk.  
  
“WHAT?” Ryo exclaimed in shock. He pulled Dee’s head up and stared at him. “Are you crazy?”  
  
Dee licked his lips. “Maybe I realized that I really love being taken by you and want to stay that way for a while.” He moved his head from Ryo’s hands and started to lick the skin along Ryo’s neck.  
  
Ryo groaned, then shook himself. “WHEN I AM NOT ALLOWED TO PENETRATE YOU?” he demanded, before tilting his head to the side, moaning. “I mean, I… I….”  
  
“After all, I’m the one who seems to be most claimed anyway,” Dee said into Ryo’s neck, then started to lap downward. “I mean, judging from your needing to have me always marked.” He moved the shirt to expose Ryo’s collarbone and started to suck on it – on the same area Dee more times than not would carry a hickey from Ryo.  
  
“Uh….” Ryo threw his head back.  
  
“What’s wrong, baby?”  
  
“Dee….”  
  
Dee lifted his head, his eyes glowing with excitement. “Wouldn’t it be nice to top me all the time?” he asked in a sexy tone.  
  
“I want a deadline for this. I can’t do it otherwise, not knowing when it’ll finally end. I’m not as patient as you….”  
  
“Why a deadline?” Dee wondered. “I mean, what’s the big deal?”  
  
Ryo blinked at Dee. “You know I love doing that, but not for several months….” Ryo almost lost his train of thought when Dee started to nibble on his ear. Ryo blushed as he started to talk again. “I love it as much when you pounce me.”  
  
Dee was grazing a finger along Ryo’s collarbone and the exposed part of his chest. “I can still pounce you,” he remarked matter of factly.  
  
“B-but….”  
  
His eyes were devilish as he licked his lips again. “I can pounce right into your lap and ride you.” His voice was husky and laced with oozing sex.  
  
“Oh God….” Ryo sighed, his mesmerized eyes fixed on Dee as images of what Dee said filled his mind. “But, I’m not allowed to penetrate right now. Remember?”  
  
Dee nodded. “Not tonight, and not until there’s stuff. Then once you provide sufficient lube we can start counting to… ummm… a month. Then we’ll see from there.”  
  
Ryo sighed heavily.  
  
Dee ran his finger up along Ryo’s neck with a soft smile. “Of course you can penetrate me, once you can properly prep me, silly. You’re the absolute tops, my studmuffin.” Dee gave Ryo a silly grin, suddenly finding himself almost light-headed over the possibility that had started out as a tease and to make a point. A month did not sound bad at all to Dee, as he found himself looking forward to it.  
  
“God Dee, please make up your mind!” Ryo demanded. “Now! I need… I need…” He let out a shuddering breath. “I can’t….”  
  
“No up my ass unless you either go out for lube or find something to use in the house that’s suitable,” Dee insisted, realizing he finally had Ryo where he wanted him.  
  
“But not tonight even if I find something in the house? Like right now?”  
  
“Once we got the grease control under hand, you’re the top dog for a month.” He studied Ryo’s face and his body. “Why?” he asked with a slight smirk. “You that horny right now?”  
  
Dee started to move his hand toward Ryo’s groin at the same time Ryo grabbed the same hand and guided it to the same targeted area. He pressed Dee’s hand down. Dee had already noticed the throbbing hard on before he moved his hand. He smiled as with his hand still under Ryo’s, he slid his hand across the area, eliciting a long, deep moan from Ryo.  
  
Huskily, Ryo asked, “Does that answer your question?”  
  
“Well,” Dee said thoughtfully, completely amused and realizing that this might actually be more a draw than a win for him. He licked his lips, thinking of what he could do to relieve what was obviously becoming a painful erection with his mouth. Or he could hope Ryo proved to be resourceful and find something they could use, and Dee could feel that wonderful hard-on pumping within him. He let out a moan. He started to open his mouth with his suggestions, then closed it, barely managing to pull himself together enough to realize that for once he did not want to be the one making the decisions. Let Ryo figure it out and decide for them which way it would be. He smirked at Ryo. “There are several options. So you tell me which one you want.”  
  
Ryo gulped. He leaned forward to unzip Dee’s pants and snaked his hand inside, grasping onto Dee’s erection and started to stroke.  
  
Dee let out another moan at the touch. “You’re not going to convince me to do you,” he stated through clenched teeth, but arching up into the touch. He leaned over a bit to make sure he still maintained his own stroking through the thin denim fabric of Ryo’s jeans, realizing how badly Ryo probably needed to open his own fly and free himself from the skin tight prison.  
  
“I’m not trying to, idiot,” Ryo snapped. “I thought you wanted me to decide which way we’d go about this?”  
  
Dee stopped stroking Ryo and taking his partner’s hand into his, pulled the hand away from his inside his jeans. He started to stand up.  
  
Ryo’s eyes flew open as he gasped at the lack of contact. “What?”  
  
“It’s all your decision, except for one,” Dee decided. “I am deciding I don’t feel like falling off this freakin’ chair.” He took Ryo’s hand in his and smiled down. “Come.” He winked and grinned.  
  
Ryo held onto Dee’s hand and followed him, as Dee lead them to the living room. He settled on the couch, pulling Ryo down alongside him.  
  
“Here we go,” Dee said. “Nice and comfy. Now where were we?” he asked.

 


	4. Chapter Four

Not long after settling on the couch, Dee found himself laying on his back, with Ryo’s body covering his, both of them enjoying kissing and gently caressing the other.  
  
Their kissing progressed to long and passionate until they found themselves in a kiss so deep, it warned Dee of where it would lead if continued. Dee placed his hands on Ryo’s shoulders and tried to pull away a little.  
  
“Ryo…” he said, then sighed heavily in frustration.  
  
Ryo’s dazed gaze fell upon Dee’s face. “Hmm?” he asked, trying to bring their mouths together again. Dee’s hold kept him from succeeding. Ryo blinked, seeming to gain some of his senses again, then frowned a little.  
  
Dee sighed again, sparing a hand to push Ryo’s bangs out of his eyes. “I just needed to get a quick breath here.”  
  
Sheepishly, Ryo replied, “Sorry.” He started to pull further away from Dee. With a sigh, he sat up, shaking his head.  
  
Dee reached out to grab onto Ryo’s arm. “Wait!” he exclaimed. “I just wanted to catch my breath and slow things down. Not stop.”  
  
Ryo gazed down at Dee, who was still laying on the couch looking up at him in invitation. “Are you sure?”  
  
Dee nodded. “Not saying we’re going to go that far, which is why I wanted to slow things down some. Unless….” He raised an eyebrow.  
  
“Unless?” Ryo asked. He crawled back to drape himself across Dee, moving his head toward Dee’s until their noses almost touched.  
  
Dee had been watching as Ryo repositioned himself. He looked up at the dark eyes hovering so close above his, feeling a thrill run up his spine. His thoughts were on how wonderful it felt to be under Ryo in this manner, and marveled at how much he truly did enjoy it. In a husky tone, jade eyes looking into dark ones, he said softly, “Hi there.”  
  
Ryo smiled down at him, his eyes meeting Dee’s. His hands rested on each side of Dee’s head. “Hi.” He guided the tip of his nose to bump gently against Dee’s.  
  
With a contented smile on his face, Dee rubbed his nose against Ryo’s in response. He watched as Ryo closed his eyes.  
  
“That’s nice,” Ryo whispered.  
  
Dee started to rub Ryo’s back, hands running up and down along the sinewy muscles. “This is nice,” he agreed.  
  
“Penguin kisses are nice, too,” Ryo murmured. He settled himself firmly on Dee.  
  
Dee chuckled at the comment, knowing he had corrupted yet another innocent in calling the woman who raised him by his affectionate name for her. Except Ryo took it a step further. If Mother knew what Ryo called him, he was not sure if she would have both their ears, or if she would laugh delightedly, hugging Ryo, knowing she was finally getting her revenge through him.  
  
Ryo ran his hands through Dee’s hair, massaging Dee’s scalp, smiling down at his lover, who had his eyes closed, seeming to be enjoying the affection. He watched as Dee’s features turned thoughtful.  
  
Opening his eyes, Dee declared, “I definitely like this.”  
  
“Mhm, I hope so,” Ryo replied, still massaging. He nuzzled Dee’s cheek. “You smell good.”  
  
Dee inhaled deeply. “Mmm… And you smell wonder -- I want to eat you!” he exclaimed with a wicked grin.  
  
Ryo let out a warm chuckle.  
  
“Damn Ryo,” Dee sighed as he rubbed his cheek against his lover’s. He ran his fingers through soft brown hair, letting out a small frustrated sigh.  
  
“Well, I’d say help yourself here, but we already know that’s not an option,” Ryo stated, with a slight tease to his tone.  
  
“No. It’s not.” He smiled gently. “And you know why?” His eyes pierced Ryo’s, as he waited for the other man to reply.  
  
“Because I never buy the lube?” Ryo replied slyly, then gave Dee an impish grin.  
  
Dee shook his head. “Uh uh,” he answered.  
  
“Oh?” Ryo looked thoughtful.  
  
“Because,” Dee started, lazily drawing up his words, “I’m so completely and totally loving how I’m feeling right now.”  
  
“Ahh,” Ryo remarked with a nod.  
  
Dee’s arms wrapped around Ryo’s back to hold him. “Under you, feeling your warm body covering mine….”  
  
“This warm body is quickly becoming a little chilly on the back though,” Ryo cut in, “because someone stopped rubbing it.”  
  
“Sorry,” Dee said, smiling at Ryo, releasing his hug to start rubbing Ryo’s back again. “As you wish.” He grinned impishly up at Ryo. “I know we switch off at times, but it seems as if we don’t do it this way enough.”  
  
Ryo practically snuggled into the body beneath his, as Dee talked, hands still enticingly rubbing his back. “Feels great,” Ryo replied.  
  
“Yeah. Definitely nice.” Dee kissed Ryo’s cheek.  
  
Ryo had not stopped massaging Dee’s scalp during their banter. He nuzzled Dee’s ear.  
  
Dee sighed blissfully, moving his head to give Ryo better access. He closed his eyes, a sweet smile on his face.  
  
Softly, in Dee’s ear, Ryo asked, “You like that?”  
  
“Mmhmm,” was all Dee replied. From the tone, it was all the answer that was needed.  
  
Gently, Ryo took Dee’s earlobe between his lips and rubbed the it with them.  
  
Dee opened his eyes to slits, smiling. His head moved a little more as he let out a soft moan.  
  
A hand went to Dee’s other ear and ran a finger over the edge of it.   
  
Dee had not let up in his massage on Ryo’s back, his hands now moving to run along the upper back. “Oh God,” Dee sighed.  
  
Smiling wickedly, Ryo ran the finger along the underside of the ear, then tenderly massaged the little dimple right under the earlobe with two fingers.  
  
Dee wiggled a little under Ryo as he let out another soft moan. It was one of those spots Ryo knew when worked the right way would render his lover helpless and moaning for Ryo to have his way with Dee’s body. Whenever Ryo worked on Dee’s ears in that particular way, not matter what mood Dee would start in, it always ended up with Ryo filling Dee.  
  
Ryo decided to give the ear he was still gently sucking on the earlobe the same treatment as the other one, except using his tongue, instead of his finger.  
  
Dee ran one finger softly down along Ryo’s spine. His mouth opened a little as his eyes closed. Fingers started to dig a little into Ryo’s back.  
  
Feeling Dee further melt under him, Ryo licked along the edge of Dee’s ear, moaning softly into it.  
  
Dee was starting to writhe under Ryo, and let out a moan. “Ohh…” he sighed. “God…”  
  
Huskily, Ryo asked in Dee’s ear, “Want me to stop?”  
  
Dee shook his head. “No, don’t. Feels too good.” He moaned again as Ryo bit down on his earlobe and started to gently suck it again.  
  
Unable to stop himself, Ryo slowly ground his hips against Dee’s. Hearing Dee moan again, he stopped playing with the earlobe to start making a trail across Dee’s face, brushing his lips over the cheek on that side, touching Dee’s slightly parted lips, then across the other cheek.  
  
Letting out another moan, Dee moved his hips to grind against Ryo’s.  
  
Groaning softly, Ryo licked Dee’s other ear as he started to slowly rub himself against Dee. His moan was a bit louder. It was more than from the combination of what he was doing to Dee’s ear and how it felt to rub his groin deliciously against Dee’s.   
  
He felt the body beneath him start to writhe in pleasure, as Dee’s moan was that of him being totally and completely lost in Ryo. He knew Dee was slipping to that place of no return. Once Dee reached it, there would be only one way the night would end.  
  
“Ryo…” Dee sighed as he nuzzled Ryo’s shoulder.  
  
Ryo took a deep breath, inhaling the essence he had come to know as his lover. “You feel so good,” he sighed, before letting out a moan.  
  
Dee nodded his head in agreement. “Yeah, I do,” he said. “I mean, I’m feeling so good from what you’re doing…” He found himself sighing as Ryo applied more pressure to his hips with a sway, rubbing his groin against the bulge in Dee’s jeans. “That feels good too,” he added. He let out a long, low moan.  
  
Ryo chuckled deeply. “I can feel that.”  
  
“I’m sure you could,” Dee laughed.  
  
Ryo chuckled again, with a happy sigh.  
  
Dee went back to nibbling along Ryo’s shoulders, while his hands roamed along the smooth round curves of Ryo’s ass.  
  
Grinning, Ryo shifted to his side a little to sneak a hand under Dee’s shirt. His hand slid over Dee’s abdomen, along his stomach and sternum, still roaming up to his chest to finally stop at his right nipple. Dee’s gasp was all the encouragement he needed to run a finger over the areola, feeling it start to peak under his touch.  
  
The hands on his ass started upward along his back, going under the shirt he had borrowed from Dee. Strong, deft fingers stroked the smooth taut skin over sinewy muscle on his lower back. Dee’s mouth moved, the kisses going along his shoulder toward his neck.  
  
It all felt wonderful to Ryo, but he wanted more. He dipped his head so his mouth rested near Dee’s ear. Softly he asked, “Can I take off your shirt?”  
  
Dee chuckled teasingly. “You can try.” He wrapped strong arms around Ryo’s back to hold him down for a moment.  
  
When Dee’s hold loosened, Ryo backed away from the arms, moving until he was kneeling between Dee’s legs.  
  
Green eyes fixed on Ryo, Dee bucked his hips a little, while licking his lips.  
  
Ryo leaned forward to run both his hands firmly along Dee’s chest. His fingers rested near the top buttons of Dee’s shirt, then lingered.  
  
Dee groaned with frustration. “Hurry up, baby. It’s getting cold down here. You were keeping me warm.” He chuckled as he tried to reach out for Ryo.  
  
Ryo moved back, avoiding Dee’s arms, a wicked smile on his face. He had removed his hands from Dee’s chest. He made quick work of unbuttoning Dee’s shirt that he wore, striping out of the shirt, a seductive smile on his face.  
  
Dee’s head cocked a little to the side in curiosity, the unspoken question in his eyes.  
  
“Well,” Ryo replied, holding the shirt he had taken off to the side, “this is your shirt too.”  
  
Dee’s eyes opened wide as he started to smile. “Too?” he asked. “Do we jointly own it now?”  
  
Ryo laughed. “No. I meant that the shirt you are wearing is not the only one that is yours.”  
  
“Still won’t keep me as warm as you covering my body,” Dee replied. He reached out toward Ryo again, licking his lips invitingly.  
  
Ryo let the shirt drop to the floor alongside the couch. Leaning forward again, he started to open Dee’s shirt slowly, his fingers brushing along the skin exposed with each button. When Dee’s shirt was open and pushed to the sides so he had a full view of Dee’s chest, he raised an eyebrow in appreciation of the sight before him.  
  
Dee let out a delightful laugh. “See something you like, studmuffin?”  
  
“Care to explain how someone as hot as you can get cold?” Ryo asked in a silky tone.  
  
“Because it always feels colder after having you close to me for a while.” He raised his hips again, slowly, making sure he rubbed up along Ryo’s bare torso with the movement.  
  
“Aw…” Ryo rubbed his hands from Dee’s abdomen up to his chest and started to knead Dee’s hard, firm pecs.  
  
Dee smiled as his fingers lightly stroked up along Ryo’s arms, closing his eyes. He sighed in pleasure.  
  
Ryo started to frown a little as his hands continued to explore Dee’s upper body. “You are tense,” he observed, a little concerned. “I mean, even your pecs are tense.”  
  
Dee’s eyes opened. “I’m fine,” he replied.  
  
Ryo lowered his head as he leaned over more, dropping kisses all over Dee’s chest.  
  
“Better…” Dee sighed, closing his eyes again.  
  
“Yeah?” Ryo started to kiss his chest again, concentrating on a spot right above Dee’s left nipple.  
  
Dee nodded his head in response, his eyes still closed. He sighed as he felt the warm, moist lips of his lover caress the sensitive flesh.  
  
Ryo continued to kiss Dee’s left breast. One of his hands slipped under Dee’s back to massage his shoulder, finding the muscles there equally tense.  
  
Dee started to moan softly as he opened his eyes, a hand running through Ryo’s hair in encouragement to continue what he was doing.  
  
While his mouth was slowly, lovingly kissing the left side of Dee’s chest, and his right hand massaging the tense shoulder muscles, his other hand went down to cup Dee’s crotch, firmly rubbing the bulge straining under the denim fabric.  
  
Automatically, Dee’s hips lifted of their own accord to the touch. “Ahh…” he moaned.  
  
Ryo flicked his tongue over the already hardened nipple, feeling Dee quiver from the action. He continued to lap at the sensitive nub, feeling Dee writhe a little.  
  
Dee’s head fell back, closing his eyes while licking his lips. “Mmm… much better,” he sighed.  
  
Ryo grinned, still lapping at the nipple and the areola, and the hand on Dee’s crotch started to slowly pull down the zipper of Dee’s jeans. He noticed Dee opened his eyes to slits. He nipped on the nub as the thumb of his hand at Dee’s crotch slide inside the jeans to rub along Dee’s length.  
  
Dee groaned long and deep at the touch.  
  
Wanting more, Ryo removed his hand to start opening Dee’s belt, pulling it out from the belt loops. Dee lifted his hips again to allow the belt to slide free. The belt was dropped to land on top of the shirt Ryo had earlier discarded. He made quick work of undoing the button on Dee’s jeans. He moved around to end up lying on top of Dee again, kissing his way up Dee’s neck. His mouth trailed kisses along Dee’s jaw line until he reached the chin. He had been moving his body seductively to rub against Dee, groins pressed together.  
  
Dee was moaning again, his hands on Ryo’s back, stroking up and down.  
  
Ryo lifted his head with lips hovering an inch above Dee’s mouth. “You tell me if I’m taking things too far for tonight,” he said softly.  
  
Dee raised an eyebrow at that. He snorted in amusement. “Things went too far about the time you let willy go free.” His mouth went back to nuzzling along Ryo’s shoulder. With his mouth barely above the delicious skin, he added, “Dammit Ryo. I’m holding back from saying the one thing on my mind right now.”  
  
Ryo pulled away so he could look at Dee’s face. “And that would be?” he asked.  
  
Dee looked a bit hesitant as his hands stroked along Ryo’s back, and he smiled gently. He kept his silence.  
  
“Tell me,” Ryo urged softly. He leaned in close, and in a husky tone, said, “And you’ll get a reward.”  
  
Smirking, Dee shook his head. “I stand a better chance of a reward by not saying it.” His fingers lightly tickled Ryo’s ribcage.  
  
Ryo sat up, stubbornness on his face. He grabbed Dee’s hands and held them. “Tell me!” he demanded.  
  
Dee swallowed, his eyes on Ryo. In a low voice, he replied, “I want you, Ryo.” He shook his head. “But….”  
  
Squeezing Dee’s hands tighter, he softly insisted, “But?”  
  
“You know.”  
  
“Know what? Please baby, tell me,” Ryo urged gently.  
  
Dee sat up frowning. Without warning, his hands slipped from Ryo’s and one shot up to tweak Ryo’s nose. “I want you to fuck me stupid, but it’s not happening tonight. There. Happy?” He plopped back down onto his back and covered his face with his arms.  
  
Ryo rubbed his nose, staring down at Dee, watching his frustrated partner sigh heavily. Dee was proving to be most stubborn, holding onto his terms. Leaning over again, he grasped Dee’s wrists and gently pried his arms away from his face.  
  
Green eyes gazed up at him. “Oh well,” Dee said, attempting a light tone, “blow jobs will work. Been a while since we sixty-nined anyway.”  
  
Ryo shook his head and leaned down to give Dee a soft peck on his lips. Quickly he got up from the couch. Determinedly he bent down to get his, Dee’s, shirt and put it on.  
  
Still staying in place, Dee turned his head to watch Ryo in curiosity. The sudden movement surprised him, but he was too frustrated to hope for anything more than giving each other mutual hand jobs at that point.  
  
Buttoning up the shirt, Ryo smiled down at Dee. He leaned down to steal a quick kiss. “Don’t move. I’ll be back in a flash,” he said.  
  
Dee’s head lifted in surprise. “Where are you….? Ryo?”  
He was talking to air, since Ryo was already leaving the room. From the other room, he yelled out in reply to Dee’s question, “Corner store!”  
  
Dee sprang up into a sitting position, eyes wide with shock. He scratched the back of his head in confusion. After a few moments, he shifted to lean against the back of the couch with a heavy sigh. “Just because he says he’s going, doesn’t mean he’ll be able to complete the mission,” he muttered in frustration. “But don’t you dare go out if he can’t,” he warned himself.

 


	5. Chapter Five

Ryo ran down the hallway from the front door into the corridor to the elevator. He hit the button and waited only a few moments before he started to get frustrated because the elevator doors did not open yet. Deciding he could not wait any longer, he turned toward the stairs and ran down all seven flights. He did not pause in his speed as he hit the lobby and raced out of the building, heading down the street. People who were strolling along the mostly residential street jumped quickly to get out of the way of what they believed was a madman. Some paused to look behind him, wondering if he would be followed by a cop or someone. Ryo did not notice anyone except to barely avoid running into someone.  
  
Ryo was panting as he came to an abrupt halt in front of the store.  
  
Staring at the door, he took a deep breath and entered the store, making the little bells over the door ring. Without looking around, he determinedly strode from the door across the store’s interior to the aisle with the sanitary and family planning products, unaware of the looks he got from the young woman standing behind the checkout counter.  
  
He came to a stop in front of the shelves displaying a selection of condoms and lubricants. His eyes quickly scanned the products before he reached out for a bottle that he was familiar with.  
  
He paused, then pulled his hand away, dropping it at his side. Carefully he peered around, noticing the checkout girl watching him in interest. He felt himself blushing to the roots of his hair.  
  
The woman smirked and turned away, shaking her head in amusement.  
  
Ryo was caught between cursing himself out for blushing so badly and wanting to just walk out of the aisle and leave the store. He started to turn when he had a vision of Dee, aroused, flushed and half naked, sprawled out before him. He gulped, feeling himself heat up with a different type of flush. In his mind, he heard Dee say, “I want you to fuck me stupid.”  
  
He turned back to scan the products again, still too afraid to pick anything up, but caught up in knowing he wanted to give Dee exactly the same thing his lover was asking for.  
  
“Can I help you, sir?” he heard coming suddenly from behind him.  
  
Ryo jumped at the voice. “What?” he asked, stunned. “I… No. I was…” He shook his head. “No.” He cursed himself again, knowing he most likely was a very interesting crimson color. He could not stop himself from feeling like he was dying from slow embarrassment right before the amused eyes of the young stock boy who now stood before him.  
  
“You just looked a little uncertain. If you have any questions, I’ll be glad to answer them,” the young man talked on, appearing to be unflustered about having to explain various types of lubricants.  
  
The sad part, Ryo reflected, was there were no questions he would have about any of the products before him. Most of them he was familiar with, some more than others. He did not need any help in selection as he was quite educated in that area. It was just buying the damn stuff in person that he had problems with.  
  
He’d be damned if he was going to make his selection with the stock boy staring at him in amusement. “Uh, no thanks,” he managed to reply without stammering too bad. “I mean, I’m good. I… I mean, uh… ehm…” Okay, he corrected himself in his mind, at least he wasn’t stuttering.  
  
Out of the corner of his eyes, he noticed the woman at the counter cover her mouth to keep from laughing aloud.  
  
“Where do you have toothpaste?” he asked, sighing mentally.  
  
The young man before him smiled politely. “Where you always get it, Mr. MacLean.”  
  
‘Oh shit…’ Ryo thought, feeling himself dying inside again. “Oh… oh, of c-course….” He started to turn away to leave the aisle. “Ex…” he gulped involuntarily, “…cuse me.”  
  
The young man reached out and picked up a box. He handed it to Ryo. “Mr. Laytner usually gets this brand,” he stated.  
  
Ryo’s eyes went wide, staring down at the box held out for him to take, feeling his jaw drop.  
  
“He doesn’t buy it often,” the man said. “But….” He suddenly stopped himself, staring at Ryo. He shook his head.  
  
“B-but?” Ryo inquired, before swallowing thickly.  
  
The young man studied Ryo with intense brown eyes. “Never mind. You really don’t want to know my fantasies about Mr. Laytner.”  
  
Ryo’s eyebrow shot up at that, suddenly his dilemma forgotten. “Oh?” he asked carefully.  
  
Lifting the box he still held in his hand, the man asked, “So is this what you came here for?”  
  
Ryo barely managed to not cross his arms over his chest and tap his foot. Dark eyes shifted to study the young man before him.  
  
The other man seemed to squirm a little under the look. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t be saying stuff like that to you. I can’t keep my big mouth shut.”  
  
“And why is that?” Ryo demanded.  
  
“Well, aren’t you his… partner?”  
  
Ryo’s eyebrow went up again. “What makes you think that?” he asked. In his mind, he added, “Not that it’s untrue.” He was curious on what would make the other man think that. He could not recall ever coming into this store, giving away that him and Dee were more than just best friends.  
  
Soft brown eyes gazed up at him hopefully. “You’re not?”  
  
“You mean his partner at work?” Ryo asked. “I am.”  
  
“Oh. Work partners,” the man repeated in relief. “Wow. Then maybe one day I’ll give him a tube for free… you know, then maybe….” Eyes shifted back to Ryo again. “You think he’d be interested in me?”  
  
Ryo ground his teeth in irritation. “I think not,” he remarked through clenched teeth.  
  
“Oh? Why? Am I too young?” the other man asked. “I’m 22.”  
  
Without putting thought into the action, Ryo snatched the box from the boy. “Because he’s very much spoken for,” he snapped out, gripping the box in his hand.  
  
“So you and him are… together?”  
  
Ryo glared at the stock boy, then turned to grab a bottle of the most expensive lube on the shelves. He thought for a moment and decided to grab a second one, his eyes on the stock boy.  
  
“Damn,” the other man muttered under his breath, looking forlorn.  
  
“Yes, we’re together. And this,” Ryo replied, holding up the bottle, “will not last the weekend if I have anything to say about it.”  
  
The other’s mouth dropped open. He looked at the two bottles and the box with the large size tube of lubrication and walked away dejected. “Have fun with that hot stud,” he muttered as he left.  
  
“Thank you for your assistance,” Ryo called out.   
  
He turned and strode up to the checkout counter. He waited patiently while the customers in front of him paid for their purchases. When he got up to the counter, he placed the three tubes of lube on the counter. He avoided eye contact with anyone around him, hoping the man in front of him, currently paying for his cold medicine would not look down at what was on the counter before Ryo.   
  
Thankfully no one was behind him, and he mentally willed the man to finally be done and leave, along with no one else to get on the line behind him.  
  
His luck was short lived as the man waited for his items to be bagged. A young mother with three children between the ages of 6 and 13 got on the line behind Ryo.  
  
The guy in front of Ryo left the counter and the woman at the register looked over to him. “Next,” she greeted with a smile.  
  
“Good evening, ma’am,” Ryo greeted meekly, inwardly cursing himself. He was hoping for simple politeness.  
  
“Good evening, Mr. MacLean,” she greeted. “How are you doing this fine evening?”  
  
A storm of blistering curses aimed at himself swept through Ryo’s mind as he felt himself blush deep red again. ‘This has got to stop!’ he thought, knowing he only gave himself away more with the obvious telling signs.  
  
“Um, fine, thank you,” he forced himself to reply in an almost close to normal conversation tone. “And how are you doing?”  
  
The woman batted her eyelashes, looking up at Ryo. “Do you think I’m that pretty?” she asked.  
  
“Uh… I….” he started to stammer again, wondering what brought that on.  
  
“I was hoping that blush meant I had an effect on you. Oh well.” She glanced up at him with a knowing look and winked. “I’m doing just fine tonight. Considering I have to work.”  
  
Ryo smiled back as politely as he could, willing her to hurry up. ‘Just check out the damn things and put them in a bag, so I can get the hell outta here….’ His mind flashed back to Dee under him, flushed and writhing, wanting Ryo to take him. ‘….And back to Dee.’ He felt his face darken again, but not the usual blush. He knew he had to get out of there and back to Dee, lubrication in his possession.  
  
He turned to watch the children behind him as they played, Ryo smiled in amusement. One of the girls was fighting with her sister and pushed her accidentally into Ryo.  
  
“Careful there, little one,” he said gently. He hoped the kids would not get too close to the counter to see what he was buying.  
  
The one that Ryo held out a hand to steady looked up at him. “Sorry, Mister,” the little girl apologized.  
  
“That’s okay,” he assured her, scooting her back gently away from him toward the woman who appeared to be not that much older than him.  
  
The mother’s eyes went between her children and Ryo, then past Ryo, onto the counter.  
  
Ryo forced himself to smile sweetly at her. Behind him he finally heard the sound of the first item being scanned.  
  
The woman at the counter placed the box with the cheaper lube to the side and picked up one of the bottles. She went to scan it, only for it not to take. She frowned and tried again. When the price still did not go through, she put the bottle down and picked up the one, which was exactly the same product. She tried to scan that one several times, even wiping off the barcode.  
  
“That’s odd,” she mused.  
  
Ryo heard her and her attempts to scan the other items. He continued to watch the kids in their roughhousing. He heard her fiddle with the scanner several more times.  
  
Deciding he should have been long gone from the store by now and halfway back to Dee, instead of being among all these people probably thinking him a pervert, he turned his head to see what was taking so long with what should be a simple process. He noticed her trying to type the numbers from the barcode into the computer. The computer made a sound that sounded pretty rude to Ryo and he knew it was not good at all.  
  
“What’s wrong?” he forced himself to ask the woman who was holding the bottle of expensive lube.  
  
“Looks like they didn’t enter this item into our system yet,” she replied.  
  
“Oh,” was all Ryo found he was able to say.  
  
She lifted the bottle with the casualness as if it was mere cooking oil and waved it before Ryo. “New stock. We just got it in this morning.”  
  
“Uh, no problem,” Ryo remarked, wishing she would put the damn bottle down, aware that everyone in the area probably knew what he was attempting to purchase by now. “I’ll just bring it back and take only this one.” He pointed to the box with the tube of the cheaper brand that Dee usually picked up whenever he bought it in that particular store.  
  
“Hang on one moment and we’ll get a price for you,” she said with a smile.  
  
“No, it’s okay. I….”  
  
“It’s no problem, Mr. MacLean.”  
  
Ryo felt himself dying again, wanting to grab the damn bottle from her hand and tossing it and its twin to the side. At least the other brand was already scanned. All she needed to do was total it, he would pay and get the hell out of there.  
  
“Henry,” the woman yelled out as loud as she could. “I need a price check on lube!”  
  
Ryo’s jaw drop in sheer mortification. He was frozen, unable to react further, wishing he could make himself move and run out of the store. He ducked his head, groaning low.  
  
To his further horror, the woman lifted the offending bottle and waved it high in the air. “That new stuff. The super silky heat stuff.”  
  
Hugging himself with one arm, Ryo buried his face in his free hand. He swore every eye in the small convenience store was on him, people whispering and he did not want to think of what went through their minds.  
  
Why couldn’t things like this happen to Dee? he wondered. Everything came easy to Dee. His partner can talk all he wanted about being a street rat who had to fight and crawl his way to make a good life for himself, but Ryo knew the real truth about Dee. Everything came easy for Dee. The woman who ran the orphanage he was raised in practically adopted Dee for herself, bestowing enough attention on young Dee that he admitted he grew up knowing what a mother’s love was. She happened to have been from a well off family, who put money aside to assure Dee went to a better school during his grade school years and to help cover what Dee could not while he was in college. Ryo knew Dee had a few first time stories about his own experiences in life and sexuality, but nothing seemed as traumatic to Ryo. They only gave Dee more strength and confidence, learning from his mistakes.   
  
And most importantly to Ryo at that moment, never once… not once that Ryo could recall, did Dee ever step up to a counter with lube and need a price check. Perhaps if Dee had ever found himself in a similar humiliating situation in his early years, he might have better understanding and actually be sympathetic toward Ryo. He might not have put his foot down and set the terms that he had, putting Ryo in present situation that the thought following in Ryo’s mind was simply, ‘Kill me now’.  
  
Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed the mother who waited on line behind him and started to unreasonably pray that she was deaf and blind. He did not realize his hand slipped and he was paying more attention to her until, to his further horror, she smirked knowingly at Ryo and winked.  
  
‘I want to die right now, please….’  
  
She smiled indulgently at Ryo. “Don’t worry. My husband and I are open about this type of stuff with our family,” she said, indicating the children.  
  
“Uhm, err… thanks, I guess,” he croaked low to the woman behind him. His eyes went back to the woman, still holding the damnable bottle high. He removed his hand from his face, but blushed even deeper, when she smiled sweetly at him and winked.  
  
Henry appeared at the end of the aisle where Ryo had his encounter with the young man. “$17.25,” he called out.  
  
“Thanks!” the girl replied, waving the bottle up in the air again.  
  
Ryo groaned.  
  
“Okay. We’re all set here. Now let me remember how to input a manual price and you can be on your way, Mr. MacLean.”  
  
“Thank you,” Ryo remarked, feeling a little relief at seeing an end to the ordeal.  
  
He reached into the back pocket of his jeans to take out his wallet. Frowning, he removed his hand from the pocket and with his other arm, reached into the other back pocket. His frown got deeper as that hand came up empty too. He placed both hands into the pockets of his jacket, sighing when he encountered more empty pockets. His hands went under his jacket to check the breast pockets on the shirt he wore.  
  
He closed his eyes and groaned. ‘Could it get any worse now?’ he thought, fighting to keep himself from slipping over the edge into hysteria.  
  
“That will be $44.45, Mr. MacLean,” the counter woman’s voice cut through his fog.  
  
‘Just for freakin’ once if stuff like this happened to Dee…. Why me?’ He took a deep breath and gathered what little wits he had left. “Ma’am,” he started politely, willing his voice to be even, ignoring the little quiver to it, “I seem to have left my wallet at home. Umm….” He squeezed his eyes shut. ‘Definitely I could die right here and not mind… Really….’ He opened his eyes and hastily started to reach for the items sitting on the counter. “I’ll just bring these back to the shelf. I’m sorry for all the trouble,” he rushed saying.  
  
The woman shoved his hands away. “If you like, I can put it aside and you can come back with your wallet.”  
  
“Uh…”  
  
“If not, we can put it away and I can just void the transaction.”  
  
Ryo went to open his mouth to say void it when he suddenly had a vision of Dee killing him – death by hitting him with his wallet. “I uh….” he started, then muttered under his breath, “God, he’s gonna kill me….”  
  
“Excuse me, Mr. MacLean?”  
  
He quickly glanced back to notice the line had grown, people craning their necks to see what was taking so long to move the line along.  
  
“Is there a problem here?” a new voice asked, adding to Ryo’s further humiliation. He did not need anymore people at this point.  
  
“No, I.. uh… sorry, umm…” he stammered, at a loss for words.  
  
The new voice belonged to the store manager who had come over upon seeing the growing line. He glanced down at the items still on the counter. “Stocking up, I see. Good stuff, too,” he remarked approvingly.  
  
“Uh, yes…” was all Ryo found he could get out of his mouth.  
  
“Mr. MacLean left his wallet at home and just realized it,” the woman at the register explained. “I was asking if he wants to put it aside for him to come back or not.”  
  
Ryo took a deep breath, forcing himself to not start screaming like a madman, slip to the floor and crawl out or simply start crying. “I’m sorry,” he said, proud of himself this time that his voice came out a little stronger. ‘It really can’t get worse, can it?’ he told himself. ‘You’ve hit the bottom, MacLean. Time to get back on your feet again.’ To the manager, he explained, “I’ll just take these back and get out of your way. It’s no problem, really. I mean, after all the trouble I’ve caused, the least I can do is put it away if I can’t pay for it.” Babbling now, but he decided he would take that over silent mortification. “I… oh damn!” he blurted out. “This is so embarrassing. I’m sorry.” He buried his face in his hand again for a moment before staring at the manager.  
  
The woman behind him, leaned over, patting his shoulder. “Darling one, there’s nothing embarrassing about helping nature a little along its course.”  
  
“Oh my….” Ryo gasped upon hearing her.  
  
“Bag it up, Lacey,” the manager instructed. He smiled at Ryo. “Mr. MacLean, we’ll put these on Dee’s credit.”  
  
“Uh… well. Okay.” Ryo took another deep breath and smiled sheepishly, shaking his head. “Oh my,” he said, laughing at himself a little. “I guess I just made a complete fool outta myself, huh?”  
  
The woman before him placed the items in a plastic shopping bag and handed it to Ryo, smiling sweetly. “Here you go, sweetie.” She grinned at him. “First time?”  
  
Ryo accepted the bag and chuckled. “Yes. I’m sorry.”  
  
“Don’t be,” the manager said. “We’ve all been there at one time.” He laughed.  
  
Ryo prepared to leave, but turned to the woman behind him. “Sorry, ma’am for making you wait.”  
  
“That’s okay. Enjoy.” She winked at him.  
  
As Ryo started to walk away from the counter, the manager stated, “I used to work in a drugstore uptown when I was younger. Near where your partner grew up.” He winked at Ryo, his eyes twinkling with mischief. “Dee’s first time… well, he was so nervous, he almost stole it.”  
  
Ryo paused in his steps to clear the checkout lane, looking over to the manager. “You knew Dee back then?” he asked, amazed.  
  
The manager laughed, nodding his head. “Sure did.”  
  
“He what?” Ryo asked, stunned, then chuckled. Maybe things like this did happen to Dee sometimes after all, he wondered.  
  
The manager moved Ryo to the side, away from the checkout lane so Lacey could start taking care of the other customers, getting them moving and along their way. Intrigued, Ryo followed, maneuvering about the kids.  
  
“He was about 17 or 18 at the time,” the manager explained. Used to come in all the time for his toiletries. That’s how I got to know him. Then one day he comes in looking a bit nervous.”  
  
“My Dee? Nervous?” Ryo let out a chuckle. Somehow when the manager intervened it had started to get a little livable for Ryo. Now suddenly relief was overshadowed by amazement that he might not have been the only one having trouble at first buying lubrication. He also caught himself, realizing he had referred to his partner as ‘his Dee’. He could not stop the slight blush, knowing exactly how it sounded to this very nice man talking to him.  
  
“Yup. Dee nervous. Very. Because he was acting weird and his earlier reputation preceded him, I felt I had to watch him. Discreetly from a distance, of course. Granted, I heard that he had stopped stealing a couple of years before and wanted to be a cop, but when someone with his reputation comes into a store that he used to hit up, you are obliged to watch carefully. Well, anyway, he picked up a few other items, his usual, then suddenly he shot right through the aisle with where we kept the lubrication and grabbed the first thing that came into his hand. Without stopping, I should add. Just zoomed right through, not bothering to check what he was grabbing.” The manager laughed. “I knew right then what was going on. And I just had to continue watching to see how he acted at the counter. Just for shits and giggles, mind you. He was halfway from the aisle to the nearest check out counter when some girls he knew noticed him and started to approach him to say hello.” The manager laughed harder. “Poor thing went into blind panic at that point, and shoved the box under his sweatshirt.”  
  
Ryo raised in eyebrow. “What?” he asked amazed and started to laugh. “Oh my….”  
  
“”He ended up talking with the girls, who got on the line with him,” the manager stated. “The girls were too busy flirting with him and giggling to notice he was looking a little pale once he realized they got on line with him. He put his other items down and forgot about the bottle of lubrication under his sweatshirt.”  
  
Ryo bit his lower lip, trying not to laugh too hard at the image in his head as the manager talked on. It was too good for Ryo.  
  
“I knew he wasn’t trying to steal it, but had he walked out of the store with it still under his shirt, it would have been considered that, no matter what his intentions were. I mean, he was playing it off cool with the girls, but if you watched him really close, he was barely passing himself off. You could see he just wanted to bolt. So I started to approach him as he began to leave the counter, just to remind him of what was under his shirt, when it slipped out from under his shirt on its own.” The manager’s eyes twinkled. “Not only were the girls watching this happen, but the bottle dropped right onto the feet of that nice nun who raised him.” He let out a laugh. “She had entered the store and upon noticing Dee, she was walking up to him. Only Dee did not see her.” He burst out in laughter.  
  
Ryo slapped his hand on his forehead. “No!” he remarked, sounding partially scandalized. He started to laugh. “What did pengu… uh, I mean, Mother say?”  
  
“She picked up the bottle, placed it on the counter, and pulled him out of the store, by his ear, yelling at him about how he had supposedly stopped stealing.”  
  
Ryo laughed out loud.  
  
“I heard the girls who were behind him teased Dee for months after. Some of them spread the tale to their other friends.”  
  
Ryo laughed even harder.  
  
“Rumor has it they stopped laughing when they found out it wasn’t for any of them, or of the female variety. That was something they were not expecting of Dee. He was quite the ladies man, and no one foresaw that he would expand his tastes to other than just women.”  
  
Ryo’s laughter died down to amused chuckles. He shook his head. “Oh shit…”  
  
The manager winked knowingly at Ryo. “But that reason he attempted to buy it that day is your gain today, isn’t it?”  
  
Ryo was shaking his head, wiping at his eyes from laughing so much. He let out a small chuckle. “I guess.” He took a deep breath. Looking at the manager, he said, “I mean, I’m sorry, sir, that you had to witness us both making complete fools of ourselves.”  
  
“Not a problem,” the manager replied. “Oh, and tell Astro Boy, I said hello.”  
  
“W-what?” Ryo felt another wave of laughter bubble up. “Please don’t tell me…?” His eyes looked at the manager in question.  
  
“Yup. What Dee had grabbed was a bottle of Astroglide.”  
  
Ryo felt into laughter again. “Oh I will!” he choked out, trying to stop his laughter. “Thank you, sir.”  
  
“Have a good evening, Mr. MacLean.”  
  
“Please, it’s Randy.”  
  
The manager held out his hand. “Johnny.”  
  
“Thank you again, Johnny. And you have a good evening too.”  
  
Smiling, Johnny went back to work.  
  
With a newfound confidence, Ryo turned to Lacey. “You have a wonderful evening, ma’am.” He winked playfully at her.  
  
She giggled, then replied, “You too. And enjoy.”  
  
“Oh, I intend to now,” Ryo remarked with a laugh.  
  
He left the store. Outside, he paused to take a deep breath. He shook his head, remembering everything that went wrong in the store. All that happened and he did not faint, cry or run like the devil to get away. He was pretty damn proud of himself. Then his thoughts went to Johnny’s story of Dee, and he started to chuckle to himself.  
  
It did get better.  
  
He strode down the street toward their building, a bounce in his step, grinning like a maniac.  
  
He entered the building, going to the elevator. Inside, as he pressed the button for his floor, he muttered, “This stupid thing better not get stuck now.”  
  
As the elevator doors opened on the top floor, Ryo let out a breath he had not known he had been holding. Quickly he left the elevator and went down the hallway to their front door.  
  
By the time he put his hand on the doorknob, realizing the door was still unlocked, he had a huge shit-eating grin on his face that he knew he could not get rid of – even if he wanted to.  
  
He entered the apartment, looking around for his Astro Boy.

 

 


	6. Chapter Six

Dee sighed, trying not to look at the time again. He should have known Ryo would not be right back as promised. That was too much to ask for of his partner. Dee could not help think that when Ryo finally returned, he would be empty handed.  
  
He could not stop himself from wandering through the apartment, checking certain items in the kitchen, and finding in the back of the bathroom closet a near empty bottle of some of the expensive flavored lube Ryo had ordered for their last anniversary. He forced himself to leave what he found exactly where it was. If Ryo did not think of it when he got home, Dee decided he would take it out to finish at some point after he lifted his terms.  
  
He went back to the living room and poured himself a glass of wine. He had not bothered to button his shirt or close his pants since Ryo’s abrupt departure. He ended up standing by the cushioned window seat before of the large semi-circular window, staring out into the lights of the New York night. As he sipped his wine, his other hand absently moved to his open fly and slowly started to stroke himself. He wanted to believe in Ryo. Somehow, whether it be Ryo returned with the goods, or by showing some ingenuity with some items around the house. Dee did not care which, as long as Ryo found a way to provide.  
  
If the roles were their standard, there would be no question what they would be doing soon. Ryo had far more practice and experience in receiving than Dee. There were times when Ryo was in the mood for little more than natural lubrication. Dee had tried it a couple of times. He figured he probably needed more practice, but figured it was not the only reason for him. He was aware that while he was longer in length than Ryo’s sizable manhood, Ryo was thicker than he was. There were advantages to that – more times than not, Ryo would rub up along Dee’s prostrate without much effort to it, while Dee had to angle his thrusts to get Ryo’s. They could do it for months on a regular basis with Dee on the receiving end, and Dee knew he would still need extra lubricant because of Ryo’s thickness.  
  
His hand covered the head of his cock as he remembered the look of determination on Ryo’s face. Ryo wanted him badly. As badly as Dee wanted Ryo. They had reached the point in their relationship where it did not matter which one was on the receiving end – as long as they joined as one in the sweet rapture of sharing love. They had evolved that they were both ‘top’ and ‘bottom’ at the same time, regardless of who was being filled.  
  
Dee was not thinking much about it while in the store earlier that day – he never did. Neither did Ryo. They let nature take its course and how they ended up was it. As the evening progressed he found himself in a rare mood. A mood that would probably last at least a few days. He would take the one sided reversal as far as he felt he was in that mood. He doubted it would last long, but had no idea when it would stop. Hopefully at least long enough for Ryo to understand that as great as it was, it was sometimes work always being the one on top, as he was at the start of their relationship.  
  
He gasped as he stroked himself, thinking of how it felt that first time Ryo took him and every time after. Then with more experience and confidence, Ryo started to get daring in trying different things.  
  
His hand jerked away from his twitching cock and he forced himself to calm down some. He was not going to waste a good orgasm on just mere thoughts. Somehow, someway he would find better satisfaction when Ryo returned.  
  
He sat on the window seat and leaning against the pillows, he continued to stare out at the lights of the city beyond his apartment, waiting for his love. Dee found himself hoping it would not be too traumatizing for Ryo.   
  
  
Dee turned when he heard the door open. “Ryo?” he called out.  
  
He watched as Ryo entered the apartment, plastic shopping bag in his hand. He had a bounce to his step. Upon seeing Dee, Ryo grinned at him. It was a grin that warned Dee that Ryo was up to no good. Between the bag in his hand, which looked like he had more than just a tube of lube and the look on Ryo’s face, Dee determined it could not have been too bad of a time.  
  
Or maybe it was, but Ryo plotted a way to get revenge on the way home. No matter, he decided. That look Ryo was giving him, also meant no matter what, in the end, they both would be enjoying themselves much.  
  
He sat on the edge of the window seat, his legs hanging off as Ryo approached him. Dee gestured to the bag. “You get it?”  
  
The grin turned into a positively evil smirk, Ryo’s eyes meeting Dee’s. “Hi Astro Boy,” he greeted cheerfully.  
  
Dee’s mouth hung open, and he almost dropped the wine glass. Some drops of wine splashed on his leg unnoticed by Dee. He stared at Ryo, caught in one of the rare times when he was totally speechless.  
  
Ryo let out a laugh and walked up to Dee until he was standing before him. He set the bag on the window seat close to Dee and leaned down to hug Dee tightly.  
  
Finding his voice, Dee stammered, “W-what did you just call me?”  
  
Ryo snorted. “Astro Boy, Astro Boy.” He laughed.  
  
“Oh shit…” Dee groaned, burying his face in Ryo’s shoulder. “Please tell me he didn’t….”  
  
Still holding Dee tightly, Ryo giggled. “He did.”  
  
Dee groaned again. He lifted his head a little. “W-well, I was barely 17 at the time….”  
  
Ryo chuckled again, obviously enjoying the moment. “Oh, I heard about that,” he replied cockily.  
  
With a sigh, Dee lifted his head so he could look at Ryo. “It was another of those young, stupid and inexperienced moments.”  
  
“Yeah. I hope. He told me about the girls too.”  
  
“Crap!”  
  
“And Penguin.” He started to chuckle again.  
  
Dee let out another groan. “OH NO!”  
  
“Then Johnny told me to say, ‘Hi to Astro Boy’.” Ryo fell into more chuckles, his dark eyes shining with mischief and love.  
  
Dee slapped his forehead and kept the hand on his face, covering it.  
  
Ryo hugged Dee tighter again, kissing the area of his cheek that was not covered by his hand.  
  
“I’m gonna kill Johnny.”  
  
Ryo pulled away a bit. “Don’t Dee. He… well, he kinda has bad luck, you know.”  
  
Dee pulled his hand away. “Huh?”  
  
“Because he got to witness another silly stunt from a first time buyer again.”  
  
Dee started to grin. “How bad were you?” He hugged Ryo, pulling him closer.  
  
Ryo placed a knee on the window seat next to Dee, so he could get closer to Dee. He groaned and buried his face in the crook between Dee’s neck and shoulder. He chuckled into the warm, soft skin, feeling Dee shiver slightly, caused by the vibrations the sound made. “Bad,” he admitted.  
  
“Oh?”  
  
“Well…” Ryo lifted his head, shifting to straddle Dee’s lap, his arms still around his lover’s neck. “First that little queer stock boy cornered me….”  
  
“Hey! Be nice,” Dee admonished. “Watch with the language, or have you forgotten what we are?”  
  
Unfazed by Dee’s interruption, Ryo continued on, “and told me he had fantasies about you, and if I thought he had a chance with you.”  
  
Dee’s eyes got wide. “Oh!” He understood now why Ryo referred to Henry as he had. Before they got together, Dee had always thought he’d be the more jealous one. It had turned out that Ryo’s jealousy and possessiveness over Dee was almost legend. He watched as Ryo shook his head in annoyance. “As if that little twerp stands a chance with someone like you.”  
  
“Hehe… Okay. I don’t expect you to be nice,” Dee conceded. “I wouldn’t even think of it.”  
  
Ryo sighed. “Guess we gotta thank him though.”  
  
Dee smiled encouragingly at Ryo and kissed his nose. “Oh? Why?”  
  
“He just pissed me off,” Ryo remarked.  
  
“Yeah. I know how you are about that type of stuff.” Dee let out a chuckle. “It should bother me, but….” He gave Ryo a silly, sappy grin. “I love it.”  
  
“I’m glad,” Ryo replied, rubbing his nose against Dee’s. “So anyway, he got me so pissed off, I grabbed the lube just to show him who was going to use it on you.”  
  
Dee’s eyes were wide again as he pulled his head back to study Ryo’s face. “Oh you did, did you?”  
  
Ryo reached out to grab the bag and dropped it in Dee’s lap, between the slight space between them. “Here.”  
  
Dee picked up the bag. “What do we have here?” he asked, as he opened the bag. He looked in. His head snapped up to stare back at Ryo in amazement. “T-three tubes?” he asked in bewilderment. “Did…” Dee had to pause to laugh. “Did you make sure he knew all of this was for me?”  
  
“Well, yeah. I was really pissed off.”  
  
“And how long is this supposed to last us?”  
  
Ryo started to blush. “I…uh… told him, that these won’t last the weekend.” He grinned sheepishly and shrugged.  
  
Dee laughed as he dropped the back next to him, and hugged Ryo. “We could try.”  
  
Ryo returned the hug. “Oh, I fully intend to.” He kissed Dee on his neck.  
  
“Oh really? I’m looking forward to it.”  
  
“Hell, I really earned a weekend in bed.” He lifted his head, his eyes meeting Dee’s again. “Me and you.” His head dipped and he started to leave a trail of kisses along Dee’s ear. “Having sex 24/7.” He chuckled, before nipping the earlobe and tugging it slightly.  
  
Dee let out a groan of pleasure. “Okay, that’s it! Bikky’s going away this weekend! Wherever he wants to go! My treat.”  
  
Ryo laughed, pulling his head back.  
  
“So what else happened?” Dee asked.  
  
“Once I got over that with Henry, I went to the checkout line, hoping for a quick scan, pay up and off I’d be.” Ryo sighed heavily. “But no such luck.”  
  
“The scanner wasn’t working?” Dee asked.  
  
“Well, the scanner couldn’t read the barcode, and the UCP code wasn’t in the computer yet, so the chick at the counter… you know, the one that always makes oogly eyes at you?”  
  
“At me?” Dee laughed. “Lacey?”  
  
“That’s the one.”  
  
“I swear she has eyes for you,” he remarked truthfully.  
  
“Nuh. I swear everyone in that store wants to do you,” Ryo said with an edge of irritation. He shook his head, grinding his teeth.  
  
“She asked me about you once,” Dee stated.  
  
“Wha-? Oh…” Ryo looked at him in question.  
  
“I told her you were off the market.”  
  
“Oh?”  
  
“I almost said more, but… I knew you’d get pissed. So I just told her you were seriously seeing someone.”  
  
Ryo shook his head slightly, a soft smile on his face. “No, you could have told her.”  
  
Dee studied Ryo’s face. “Really?” he asked, slightly shocked and very amazed.  
  
“Baby, I love you. And even if I sure as hell won’t shout it from the rooftop for everyone to hear, I don’t mind if you tell people that I’m yours.”  
  
“Yeah, well…” Dee grinned impishly. “That seems to be your specialty.” He laughed and nuzzled Ryo’s face, ignoring the pout of mock annoyance.  
  
“Anyway,” Ryo continued. “So there was this woman with kids in the line behind me. And what does Counter girl do? Yell for Henry to come over and tell her the price for the lube.”  
  
Dee threw his head back as he laughed harder. “Oh no…!” He looked at Ryo again. “And you didn’t bolt?”  
  
“I swear, I died right there and then,” Ryo admitted.  
  
Dee hugged Ryo tenderly and kissed him. “It gets better, baby,” he said softly against Ryo’s warm, moist lips, moving to meet his. “And you know I know what I’m talking about.”  
  
“Yeah, Astro Boy,” Ryo remarked, kissing Dee back. “I can’t believe that woman behind me! She was real nice and all, told me it was okay, and something about her hubby but I was too busy dying of embarrassment to hear anything past her letting me know it was okay.”  
  
“Oh shit,” Dee laughed. “Really?”   
  
Ryo nodded.  
  
He looked at Ryo, rubbing his arms. “They say people aren’t friendly in New York,” Dee started, “but I swear. some of the things they’ll tell strangers.” He laughed more.  
  
“Yeah,” Ryo remarked. “When we finally had the price and everything settled, I realized I didn’t have my wallet on me.” He started to look around the room. “It must be somewhere here.”  
  
“Your wallet?” Dee asked, becoming concerned. “You didn’t have it? Did you have it when we got home?”  
  
“Yeah, I had it.” He felt Dee start to stand up and settled himself firmer on Dee’s lap, placing his arms on Dee’s shoulder. “I probably lost it when we were on the couch.”  
  
Dee was frowning. “Um… not sure you had it on the couch,” he said. “Those pants are awfully tight, you know. I’d have felt your wallet when my hands were busy down there.”  
  
Ryo studied Dee’s face, mentally tracing back his steps from when he last remembered having his wallet. “Let’s see. I know I had it when we came ba—OH!” he exclaimed.  
  
“What?”  
  
“I changed into new jeans,” Ryo replied, “and forgot to take the wallet out.” He let out a groan and knocked his head against Dee’s shoulder. “Stupid, stupid, stupid….”  
  
“Ah!” Dee started to rub Ryo’s back. “In the hamper then. Better make sure we get it out before we do the laundry.”  
  
“Nuh. The jeans are on the chair in the bedroom. They weren’t dirty or anything, so I figured I could get one more wear out of them.”  
  
“Ah….” Dee’s eyes went to the bag he had placed alongside them. “So is that how Johnny ended up talking to you? I mean, I noticed you still have a bagful.” Dee lifted the bag again and looked in, studying the items inside. “And plenty of the expensive stuff, I’m guessing from the packaging.”   
  
“Yeah. He came up to the counter to see what was going on.” He shrugged, blushing a little. “There was quite a line waiting for me to be finished. Johnny made that counter girl, what’s her name, to put it on your credit.” Ryo grinned impishly.  
  
“Oh, that…” Dee remarked, looking sheepish. “Yeah.” He laughed. “Well, sometimes I’ll run in there thinking one or two items and not putting extra money in my wallet. And end up buying more than I have the cash for. And I try not to run up the credit cards.”  
  
“Yeah.” Ryo grinned at him, then he lost the grin. “I didn’t know they knew us by name down there.”  
  
With an amused grin of his own, Dee rapped Ryo gently on his head with a knuckle. “Silly. It’s the corner store. Small, family operation. I’ve been living here how long now?”  
  
“Everyone seems to be extremely fond of you…” Ryo moved to stand up between Dee’s legs, his arms still around Dee’s neck.  
  
“And you’ve been here about a year.” He grinned teasingly at Ryo. “Hello!”  
  
Ryo purposely ignored Dee’s teasing. “I bet they would be fond of you even if you lived here only for three months.” Ryo leaned in, lips almost touching Dee’s. “Because you’re just too sweet.” His lips touched Dee for a kiss.  
  
As they broke the kiss, Dee’s eyes met Ryo’s, gazing deep in dark eyes. “So you survived.”  
  
“Yeah.”  
  
“Wow. That was quite a bit to go through since you left me on the couch. Did it make you lose the mood?”  
  
Ryo kissed him again, more passionately.  
  
“Guess not,” Dee murmured. “Hey wait a minute. Sweet? Me? Really?”  
  
Ryo kissed him again. “Very…” Another kiss. “Sweet.” He planted two more kisses on Dee’s lips, the second one lingering a bit.  
  
“Mmm… How sweet?”  
  
“Veeeeery sweet,” Ryo replied. Once again, he kissed Dee. “THIS sweet…” Ryo leaned close to Dee, giving him a long, deep kiss, his hands going through Dee’s hair until Dee groaned into the kiss.  
  
Dee placed his arms around Ryo’s neck and bought their lips together for a longer kiss. “I think I like being sweet…” Another kiss. “Mmm…. C’mere you.” Dee shifted them so their bodies met.  
  
Ryo started to shower Dee with kisses as he spoke. “And *kiss* handsome… *kiss* and *kiss* sexy *kiss* and *kiss* funny *kiss*… and *kiss* did I mention sweet?” The final kiss was deep, Ryo’s tongue licking at Dee’s lips, then sliding in when the lips parted, stroking the inside of Dee’s mouth, and sliding against Dee’s probing tongue.  
  
Dee let out a moan as they pulled apart for air. “And very horny?” he asked, his voice husky.  
  
“Mhmm, lemme check,” Ryo mused. He reached his hand between them to grab Dee’s crotch. “Oh yeah. Definitely horny.” He indulged in another long, fiery kiss. “Mmm…” he sighed as they kissed, the hand still between them rubbing Dee’s erection.  
  
Dee let out a gasp which broke the kiss. He placed his hands on each side of Ryo’s face. “Baby, I’m so proud of you.” He started to bestow the same type of sweet, yet heated kisses Ryo had been giving him. “I love you,” he affirmed between the kisses.  
  
A big happy grin was on Ryo’s face. “I must say, I’m pretty proud of myself.”  
  
Dee’s eyes closed for a moment as moaned again as Ryo slipped his thumb back into the opened jeans. “To make up for that horrid ordeal, you can do anything you like… so long as we stick to the main rule.”  
  
“Oh really?” Ryo’s look was positively devilish.  
  
“Really,” Dee nodded. “What do you want to do?”  
  
Ryo leaned forward, pushing Dee back until his lover was laying on one of the large fluffy pillows. Ryo was kneeling over him, his mouth close to those luscious lips he could never get enough of, aware of the body he also could not get enough of. He lowered his head further until his mouth was next to Dee’s ear. “You,” he whispered in a silky tone. “Until you scream my name.” He licked the ear in one long slow motion along the shell, before prodding his tongue in the opening.  
  
“I….” Dee let out a long moan, twisting his head so Ryo had more ear to play with as he lifted his hips to the touch of the hand down his jeans. “…want that too.” His hands moved around the waist of Ryo’s jeans to the front. “Now where were we?” His fingers rested on the button of Ryo’s pants. “Oh yeah…”  
  
“Oh yeah indeed.”  
  
Dee opened the button on Ryo’s jeans, letting out a whimper of protest when he felt Ryo’s hand stopped stroking along his erection, which was still mostly imprisoned within his jeans.  
  
“I’m glad you didn’t bother to button up again.” Ryo sat back, pulling Dee up to yank the shirt off.” He crawled back until he was standing before the window seat again. He grabbed onto Dee’s hips and pulled him forward until Dee was sitting at the edge of the window seat again.  
  
Dee let out a laugh. “For a while it was… hard…” he gave Ryo a wicked grin, “to close my pants.”  
  
Ryo raised an eyebrow, his eyes staring down at Dee in appreciation of the vision before him. “Why, have we been naughty while Detective MacLean was out, Detective Laytner?”  
  
Dee chuckled. “Let’s just say I’m glad I left them open. I’m having that problem again.”  
  
Ryo made quick work of moving Dee around to push his jeans down to his ankles and Dee sitting back on the edge of the seat. His eyes looked down at his partner’s erection, dark eyes reflecting the pleasure he derived from what he saw. “I see.   
  
“I was….” Dee’s eyes lifted to met Ryo’s, “thinking of you.” He gave Ryo a naughty smile.  
  
You naughty, little boy.” Ryo let out a sexy chuckle.  
  
“I was thinking my hand was yours…” Dee licked his lips, enjoying the look in Ryo’s eyes, the way he smiled, and that flush which mean things were pretty hard for Ryo as well by then.  
  
Ryo leaned forward a little and whispered, “Astro boy.”  
  
Dee ducked his head and laughed. Damn if after all those years, he still reacted from the name. That it was Ryo calling him that at least seemed to make it a new game for Dee. One that he was willing to play with Ryo, if his partner was in the mood.  
  
========

 

 


	7. Chapter Seven

Ryo was standing between Dee’s exposed thighs, looking down at Dee with a hunger in his eyes. Dee reached for the band of those sinfully tight jeans Ryo was wearing.  
  
Ryo leaned over, sliding his hands over Dee’s arms and shoulders, smiling down at Dee appreciatively.  
  
Dee gazed up at Ryo. “Planning on joining me?” he asked, licking his lips as deft fingers managed to slid into the waistband by the fly.  
  
Ryo leaned further to whisper into Dee’s ear, “You bet. Are you up to doing it right here?”   
  
His breath was hot on Dee’s ear, causing Dee to tingle. Dee smiled. “Right here, right now,” came his reply.  
  
“Mmm, good,” Ryo replied. He pulled back to help Dee pushed his jeans all the way down and pulled them off his legs to leave in a heap next to the window seat.  
  
Dee’s fingers had left the area of Ryo’s waist as he started to undo Ryo’s shirt. His shirt actually, but at the moment it was on Ryo.  
  
As Dee expertly worked the buttons, Ryo leaned in close again to nibble on Dee’s ear.  
  
Dee moaned softly. “Mmm… no interruptions this time, I hope,” he murmured.  
  
Ryo’s hands slide down over Dee’s shoulders and back, then along his sides until they rested on Dee’s hips. He started to massage along Dee’s hips toward the cheeks of his buttocks.  
  
Dee leaned forward to start kissing Ryo’s chest, his hands rubbing along Ryo’s abs.  
  
Ryo’s hands moved over the hips again, going for the front, his fingertips brushing Dee’s hard-on ever so slightly before kneading Dee’s thighs. In a husky tone, he spoke into Dee’s ear, “Your skin is so soft. I’d never thought it would feel like that when I first saw you.”  
  
Dee gasped from what Ryo was doing with his hands and feeling Ryo’s mouth so close to his ear. He chuckled a little. “I’ll bet you were thinking it to be prickly like I appear to be?”  
  
“Mhmm, no….” Ryo paused to nip Dee’s earlobe before moving his mouth down to start suckling on Dee’s neck. “…just, I don’t know. More rough textured, I guess.”  
  
Dee moved his head to the side to give Ryo better access to continue what he was doing. Dee slipped his arms under Ryo’s to start massaging his lover’s upper back. “Well, you should know my secret by now,” he said slyly, then laughed.  
  
“Hmm?” Ryo asked, somewhat dazed. He nibbled on Dee’s collar bone.  
  
“Lotion,” Dee laughed. “But don’t tell the guys at work that.” He winked at Ryo.  
  
“Hey,” Ryo started.  
  
“What?”  
  
“You done with unbuttoning my shirt yet?” Ryo asked.  
  
Dee leaned in to lick an exposed nipple for his reply. “Yeah,” he drawled, dragging his tongue across the area.  
  
Ryo let out a gasp. He shrugged out of the shirt and tossed it to the side.  
  
Dee kissed his way to the other nipple and started to lick it with a flick of the top of his tongue.  
  
“Oh God…” Ryo moaned.  
  
Dee’s hands were caressing Ryo’s hips, fingertips occasionally lightly tickling.  
  
Ryo buried one hand in Dee’s hair and held his head in place, Dee’s face against his chest.  
  
Smiling, Dee started to suck and lick the spot, knowing how to give Ryo the most pleasure.  
  
Ryo let out a long deep moan, his fingers running through Dee’s hair.  
  
With one hand, Dee rubbed along Ryo’s stomach.  
  
With his fingers tangled in Dee’s hair, Ryo pulled Dee’s head back and leaned down to deeply kiss Dee, almost taking the breath out of the man below him.  
  
Wrapping his arms around Ryo’s neck during the kiss, and started to lean back. At the same time, Ryo started to push Dee to lay down on the window seat. They pulled away from the kiss for a moment to share a knowing look, understanding they both had the same thing on their minds, before Dee captured Ryo’s mouth to kiss him again.  
  
Ryo hooked his hands under Dee’s knees and pulled him closer to the edge of the seat so their groins would touch.  
  
Letting out a moan, Dee moved his hips to rub his groin against Ryo’s.  
  
Moaning softly from the delicious friction Dee was causing, Ryo licked his way over Dee’s neck, enjoying to hear each sigh, gasp and sucking in his breath. He paid particular attention to the sensitive spot near Dee’s earlobe and was rewarded with a long moan, feeling the body beneath his tremble with building passion. He slowly made his way down to the collarbone and over to the other. He felt Dee tremble and practically melt under him, moaning as his lover’s fingers danced along his back. Those fingers found a sensitive spot along Ryo’s spine, and he moaned as he continued to lick his way up the other side of Dee’s long neck. He paid attention to the same spot on that side, before lightly nipping the earlobe. Dee’s fingers dug into his back as he moaned again. Ryo licked where he nipped, before going back to lick more of Dee’s neck. In a husky whisper, Ryo spoke with his lips still pressed against the smooth skin. “Choose a tube.” His exploration moved back onto the collarbone, going onto Dee’s finely toned chest.  
  
Dee was running his hands up and down Ryo’s back, before sliding onto his hips.  
  
Ryo licked around a nipple, feeling Dee tremble again. Ryo knew that was another of Dee’s very sensitive areas. The tip of his tongue flicked across the tip of the hardening nub, before capturing the peak in between his lips.   
  
Dee was moaning again, one of his hands leaving Ryo’s body to blindly reach for the bag, and then moving within it. He finally pulled out the bottle of the expensive brand. He held it to dangle on the side of Ryo’s head. “Was this what you said you were going to use all of on me this weekend?” he asked. “Best we start with it then.”  
  
Ryo chuckled, his lips still closed over Ryo’s nipple, the vibration making Dee practically purr. “Yes,” he spoke, then clamped his teeth onto the nipple. Dee cried out in pleasure, his body arching upward. Ryo continued to go between licking the nipple and nipping it, feeling the body beneath his tremble as Dee moaned.  
  
“Oh God, yes,” Dee murmured, licking his lips, his dark green eyes now heavy lidded with passion.  
  
Ryo once again marveled as he felt Dee’s body melt, opening himself completely to Ryo, submitting himself for Ryo to bring them both to the ultimate release of pleasure. This was the same man who was so strong, so dominant, and yet could so easily melt under Ryo.  
  
The hand still on Ryo’s hips slid along the front to grasp Ryo’s cock, stroking it slowly.  
  
Ryo let out a moan, his hips moving on their own accord to move his cock along the grasp of Dee’s fingers wrapped around the column. He nipped the nipple one more time before pulling back to take the lube from Dee’s hand. He popped open the bottle top and sniffed it experimentally.  
  
Dee was looking up at him from his prone position beneath Ryo. He laughed and asked, “Smell good?”  
  
Ryo shrugged. “Well, it’s really neutral.” He held it under Dee’s nose.  
  
Dee sniffed. “That’s fine,” he remarked. He grinned as Ryo moved the bottle away. “It’s when one of our asses start smelling like lavender is when I get nervous.”  
  
Ryo laughed, his eyes meeting Dee’s. He squeezed some lube on his fingertip, then coated it over Dee’s nipples.  
  
Dee grinned up at Ryo, sighing. “Devil,” he stated. He tried to look at the bottle again, but Ryo pulled it out of his sight. He laid there, still looking up at Ryo. “So, what are we going to do with my slick nipples now?”  
  
Ryo grinned. “We’re waiting. Feel anything?”  
  
“Yeah, slippery nipples,” Dee remarked, chuckling.  
  
“Hmm,” Ryo thought. He grinned devilishly at Dee. “I want you to play with your nipples for a few minutes.”  
  
Dee grinned. He had a sultry look as he started to play with his nipples, rubbing them between his fingertips, licking his lips. His eyes suddenly closed as he moaned. “Oh yeah….” He sighed. He started to pinch and tug on the nubs a little, writhing from the combination of friction and the heat from the lubricant Ryo had selected. “Mmm… nice.” He opened his eyes a little, still pleasuring his chest, looking at Ryo again. “Wanna try some?” He grinned a little, before letting out another moan.  
  
Ryo’s breath caught as he watched Dee mesmerized. “God, do you have any idea how fucking sexy you look right now?” he asked, his voice husky. He leaned down and started to kiss Dee again.  
  
Dee stopped playing with his nipples to wrap his arms around Ryo’s neck and kissed him back. “I can never get enough of hearing you say that,” Dee replied before kissing Ryo again.  
  
Ryo squeezed a fair amount of the lube on his right hand and reached down between Dee’s spread legs. He rubbed some along the ring of Dee’s opening. “Is this okay?” he asked, before nibbling on Dee’s neck again.  
  
Dee lifted his hips. “Mmm,” was his response. “It’s fine.” He moved his hips again. “Don’t torture us with slow right now, baby. We’ve done enough of that already tonight.”  
  
“Oh shush,” was Ryo reply. His slicked fingers teased the area. “Doesn’t get too warm down there?” he asked, as he started to slide two fingers back and forth over the opening and surrounding skin.  
  
Dee chuckled, then gasps, his eyes widening. “Oh…wow!” was his reply of how the heated lube felt to him. He let out a soft moan. “This is sweet, baby.”  
  
“Good?” Ryo chuckled, enjoying the sight of Dee squirming deliciously under him, moaning again from the combination of what his fingers were doing and the lubricant itself. His index finger easily slide into the opening and past the ring of muscles.  
  
Dee moaned again, grasping onto Ryo’s arms. He gazed up at Ryo again, licking his lips. “Very…” he sighed as Ryo’s finger gently loosened him.  
  
Ryo added a second finger, watching Dee to make sure he was still okay as his fingers stretched Dee. “Damn,” Ryo remarked, amazed at how quickly he was able to insert the second finger, knowing Dee was ready for a third. He decided to hold off for a bit, having fun watching Dee squirm and writhe as hungry eyes looked at Ryo, begging for more.  
  
Dee’s hips shifted, moving down to take more of Ryo’s fingers. “This stuff is good,” he sighed. “Or I’m getting that loose.” He chuckled, then let out another moan.  
  
“Yeah.” Ryo smiled, watching as Dee started to move his hips with Ryo’s fingers, moaning more. “You feel like, I dunno…” He gazed down at Dee. “You didn’t, you know prep yourself while I was away?” He leaned forward to kiss Dee’s cheek and temple.  
  
“The wait. I think when I was playing with myself, I got myself all relaxed and wanting,” Dee replied.  
  
Ryo pulled back so he was standing straight against the window seat between Dee’s legs, the two fingers of his right hand still moving within Dee.  
  
Dee looked up at Ryo in question.  
  
Ryo grinned as he added a third finger. He crooked his finger a bit to rub over Dee’s sweet spot.  
  
Arching his hips upward, Dee let out a gasp. “Oh yeah…”  
  
Using his left hand, Ryo took Dee’s cock and started pumping it. He grinned devilishly down at Dee.  
  
Dee moaned again. “Easy baby,” he warned, bucking up with the duel sensations driving him closer to the edge. He started to moan softly.  
  
“Mhm, I don’t think so,” Ryo remarked. He grinned again and worked Dee a bit hard on both ends.  
  
Dee gasped and moaned as body arched up. “Careful,” he tried to warn again. He reached out trying to reach for the lube.  
  
Ryo rubbed his thumb over the slit of Dee’s cock, causing his lover to moan again, his hand dropping. His eyes closed as he trembled slightly. “Nuh uh uh,” Ryo remarked, satisfied he prevented Dee from trying to force the pace. If Dee wanted him on top more, then Dee was going to learn how to be patient as Ryo made the most of the lovemaking.  
  
Dee’s eyes opened, green orbs pleading. “Ryo…” Dee moaned. “Please. Hurry Ryo. I want you inside me.”  
  
“I am inside you,” Ryo stated, moving his fingers to rub along the sweet spot again.  
  
Dee bucked and cried out a little. “Not your fingers. Please. I want to feel your cock.”  
  
No longer able to deny them both the pleasure, Ryo let go of Dee’s cock, watching as Dee let out a wordless protest at the lost. Awkwardly he squeezed some lube onto his cock with his left hand. He closed and dropped the bottle back on the window seat, then started to stroke himself, lubing himself up. He moaned softly as he felt his hand move up and down along his length, imagining the warm tightness surrounding his fingers was surrounding his cock. Yes, this was something they both wanted.  
  
His eyes caught Dee’s hand moving toward him, to help. He slapped the hand lightly, pushing Dee back to once again lay completely on his back. “Nuh uh. You lay back and relax, and let me do all the work for once,” Ryo insisted.  
  
Dee grinned, allowing his fingers to brush against Ryo’s scrotum before letting his arm drop.  
  
“Naughty,” Ryo stated, looking down at Dee. Dee grinned up at him impishly. “Astro boy,” he added. He laughed at the sudden pout Dee gave him. He moved his fingers so his index finger nudged hard against Dee’s prostrate.  
  
Dee’s eyes opened wide as he gasped loudly, lifting his upper body slightly from the window seat before dropping back. “Holy fuck,” Dee moaned, as he arched his hips upward.  
  
Ryo chuckled, Dee’s reaction turning him on immensely.  
  
“Ahh… damn,” Dee muttered. His eyes met Ryo’s. “Please Ryo, baby. There’s something better I want to feel.”  
  
Carefully, Ryo pulled out his fingers. He quickly wiped them clean on Dee’s shirt.  
  
Dee was watching and shook his head in amusement.  
  
“You,” Ryo remarked. He reached out to grab Dee’s hips and pulled him up a bit, sliding inside easily with on slow thrust He moaned loudly as he felt Dee’s warm cavern surround him.  
  
Dee reached out to grab onto Ryo’s hips, moaning too. “Yes…” he sighed.  
  
Ryo released Dee’s hips to take his partner’s hands off his own hip and moved them over Dee’s head, holding them down. He leaned over with the action and started to kiss Dee deeply, delivering slow and deep thrusts, still holding Dee’s hands captive.  
  
Dee’s hands slipped free and settled on Ryo’s shoulders, as he moaned with each thrust within him.  
  
“Bad boy,” Ryo remarked, taking Dee’s hands and holding them down over Dee’s head again. He continued to kiss Dee.  
  
“Yes, yes,” Dee was muttering in time with Ryo’s thrusts, losing himself in the sensation.  
  
Ryo broke a kiss long enough to warn, “Behave.” He interlaced his fingers with Dee’s and put more pressure to firmly hold Dee’s hands down.  
  
“Trying,” Dee said, then gasped. “But with you in me....” He moaned again. “I.. feel really naughty…”  
  
Ryo laughed, lifting his head inches from Dee’s mouth.  
  
Dee’s eyes met Ryo’s as he grinned.  
  
Ryo chose that moment to start thrusting faster. He closed his eyes a moment as he let out another loud moan.  
  
Dee gasped in response to the faster pace, then moaned. “Get really wicked on me, baby,” he said, then moaned again.  
  
“Oh God, you feel so good,” Ryo moaned as he moved within Dee. “Wicked huh?” He moaned again.  
  
“Mmm… you too… feel good, that is.” Dee’s head was moving side to side, his eyes closed and started to moan.  
  
In a silky voice, Ryo said, “Promise you’ll keep your hands where they are? Even if I let go?”  
  
“I’ll try…” Dee gasped. “Really… really….” A devilish grin came to Dee’s face as he finished his reply. “Hard.”  
  
Ryo shook his head in amusement. “Well….”  
  
Dee clenched onto a pillow that was above his head and looked up at Ryo.  
  
Ryo laughed and let go of Dee’s hands. He pulled back enough so he was standing straight again, the head of his cock the only thing buried in Dee. He grasped onto his dark haired lover’s hips and started to pump in and out fast and hard.  
  
Dee lifted his hips and started to move them in rhythm with Ryo’s thrusts, moaning loudly. His hands tightly clenched the pillow to keep them where they were, hoping he wouldn’t suddenly lift the pillow.  
  
As he continued his furious rhythm, Ryo’s hands slid under Dee’s knees and spread his legs a little, hoping to keep the pressure off Dee’s back.  
  
“Omigod,” Dee moaned. “Jesus, Ryo… that heat stuff....” He moaned louder. “Harder.. please baby….”  
  
Ryo was moaning pretty loud himself, the heated lubrication tingling deliciously on him, contributing to the simple pleasure of feeling himself move within Dee. “Oh yes,” he gasped, and started to thrust harder. “Oh God….”  
  
“Oh Christ… yes,” Dee murmured, his body writhing, hands still tightly clenching the pillow. He shuddered a little, feeling himself closer to the edge.  
  
“Oh Dee, baby… baby,” Ryo groaned. He closed his eyes and threw his head back as he thrust even faster and harder.  
  
Dee clenched the pillow until his arms started to tremble from the effort of keeping his hands down and not reaching out to grab onto Ryo. He arched his back, the sensation of Ryo taking him feeling too good to him. He closed his eyes and moaned. “Holy…crap,” he panted before moaning once more. “Baby… so good…” He started to breath harder, panting, almost in time with each of Ryo’s thrusts.  
  
Ryo grasped Dee’s legs tighter as he thrust harder one last time before he gasped loudly, filling Dee with his seed. “Oh fucking…,” he gasped. “Deeeee!”  
  
Dee felt himself start to tremble. “Shit…” He clenched the pillows tighter as he started to cum, his seed spilling onto Ryo and himself. He cried out wordlessly, as his arms lifted on their own accord, still holding onto the pillow. The pillow barely missed hitting Ryo’s head.  
  
Ryo groaned, riding out his climax, not seeming to notice the pillow as it came close to his head.  
  
Dee let out another moan as he drop the pillow. He took a deep gasping breath and held out his arms toward Ryo. “Ryo,” he sighed.  
  
Ryo collapsed on Dee and started to kiss him. “Love you,” he murmured, feeling Dee’s arms go around him and hold him.  
  
Dee grinned up when Ryo moved his head marginally away. “Damn… that was good. Really, really good.” He licked his lips, his eyes still reflecting the pleasure and deep contentment he was feeling.  
  
Ryo’s arms started to tremble, reminding him that he was still holding Dee’s legs up. He let out a groan, attempting to push himself away. Dee still held him close, shifting so he could drop his legs. “Let go, baby. I’m fine. I’m wonderful,” he sighed, lifting his head to kiss Ryo again.  
  
Ryo released Dee’s legs. Moments later he let out another groan as he slowly slid out of Dee. He crawled onto the window seat and rolled onto his side nest to Dee, still panting, trying to catch his breath.  
  
Dee set his head in the crook of Ryo’s neck and shoulders, sighing contently. He moved to nestle up against Ryo, still holding onto his lover.  
  
Ryo relaxed in the afterglow, feeling Dee’s heartbeat against his as he lazily rubbed circles on his partner’s back with one hand. These moments of afterglow was almost as satisfying as the act to get them there. From Dee’s happy sigh, Ryo knew Dee felt the same way. Several minutes went by in silence except for their breathing as they luxuriated in the moment.  
  
Dee broke the silence with a contented sigh. “God,” he whispered into Ryo’s neck.  
  
“Oh God,” Ryo almost echoed him, his own voice a little hoarse. “That was just….” Another moan prevented any further words from him.  
  
“Amazing,” Dee finished for him.  
  
Ryo nodded. “Yeah.” He smiled as Dee moved his head to kiss him. Ryo’s hand moved from Dee’s back to his head as he happily returned the kiss. It seemed like an eternity to Ryo before he finally blinked his eyes open and looked at the wonderful face looking at him, radiating the love Dee felt for him.  
  
Dee noticed Ryo’s scrutiny. “Hmm?” he asked lazily.  
  
“You okay, studmuffin?” Ryo asked softly. “I didn’t hurt you, did I?”  
  
Dee’s grin grew. “Oh hell no. You made me feel really good.”  
  
“That’s not what I meant,” Ryo said after chuckling at Dee’s enthusiastic reply.   
  
Dee gazed at Ryo in question. “Then what do you mean?”  
  
“Are you sore now?” he asked. “I mean, I think, I kinda.. um… sore myself.” He chuckled wearily.  
  
Dee let out a soft laugh. “I’m not sure. I’m still all tingly all over.”  
  
Ryo nodded and briefly kissed Dee. “Me too,” he agreed.  
  
Dee caressed Ryo’s cheek. “It’s fine baby. I know you get like an animal when it’s your turn on me.” He kissed Ryo’s lips softly. With his mouth still close to Ryo’s, he continued, “I love it when you get like that.”  
  
Ryo shook his head a little. “Damn that heat stuff.” His lips met Dee’s.  
  
“Yeah,” Dee agreed. He grinned, his eyes sparkling wickedly. “I’m glad you got two bottles of that stuff. Damn.”  
  
Ryo pulled his head back from Dee. “Wait! An animal?” he asked. When Dee nodded, he asked, “What kind of animal?” He arched an eyebrow.  
  
Dee laughed. “Not a penguin, okay?”  
  
Ryo slid a finger over Dee’s chest, drawing abstract patterns across the finely muscled chest.  
  
“Um.. dunno what kind,” Dee added. “A big lusty Ryo animal.” He smiled at Ryo.  
  
Ryo chuckled. “Good!”  
  
Dee gave him a lopsided grin. “Interspecies breeding here.” He laughed.  
  
Ryo shook his head, chuckling. He rolled onto his back, sighing in exhaustion. He pulled Dee close, not wanting to lose the contact of their bodies.  
  
Dee rested his head on Ryo’s shoulder and sighed contently. “That was good.” He started to nuzzle Ryo’s collarbone. “I want more… but, I need to rest some first.”  
  
“Yeah,” Ryo stated. “And damn, next time in bed. I don’t think I can do it standing like that a second time tonight.”  
  
Dee lifted his head to grin down at Ryo. “But you look so freakin’ sexy standing over me like that.”  
  
Ryo shook his head again, before smiling at Dee. He winced a little when his back protested the not so soft surface of the window seat. “Damn, we better move to the bedroom for resting.”  
  
Dee ran a hand slowly along Ryo’s chest and laughed. “If we can move, that is.”  
  
“Got a point there. I know I can’t.” He sighed and then chuckled. “But I don’t want us to fall asleep here for Bikky to find us like this tomorrow.” He kissed Dee’s forehead, rubbing his partner’s upper arm.  
  
“We can always undo the ties on the curtains,” Dee suggested, then laughed. “I think Bikky might take a hint.”  
  
Ryo laughed with Dee as he continued to rub Dee’s arm. He started to frown, his hand going from Dee’s arm down along his back. “You’re getting cold, baby.”  
  
“Move he says,” Dee playfully grumped, still cuddled next to Ryo. “He pounds me into this window seat until I’m a puddle and now I’m supposed to move…” Dee let out a snort.  
  
Ryo laughed, holding Dee tighter. “I don’t dare any better, studmuffin.”  
  
Dee lifted his head to kiss Ryo. “You know what?”  
  
“What?”  
  
“THAT was worth the waiting and the interruptions for.” Dee smiled at Ryo. “But then you always are worth it.”  
  
Ryo chuckled. “Thanks.” He leaned over to kiss Dee. “And you know what?”  
  
“Hmm?”  
  
Ryo smiled gently. “That’s because of you. I love you, Dee.”  
  
“I love you too,” Dee replied, smiling brightly. He lovingly kissed Ryo, who happily kissed him back. When they broke the kiss, Dee moved slightly, letting out a groan. “Guess we should try moving.”  
  
Ryo nodded, before he carefully and slowly sat up. “Oh man….”  
  
Reaching his arms up, Dee rubbed Ryo’s back for a minute before attempting to sit up himself. He got halfway up, then groaned and fell back. “God, I’m a wet noodle,” he groaned.  
  
Ryo laughed, looking down at Dee. Gently, he slapped Dee on the belly. “Big baby,” he teased.  
  
Dee pouted, looking up at Ryo. “Help me? Just a little? Please?”  
  
Ryo pretended annoyance. It did not last long as he started to smile down at Dee. “Okay, how about we make this worth the moving?” he asked.  
  
“Oh yeah?” Dee asked. “How?”  
  
Grabbing Dee by an arm, Ryo pulled his lover into a sitting position, groaning himself from the exertion.  
  
Dee let out another groan, leaning heavily against Ryo. He dropped his head on Ryo’s shoulder and closed his eyes.  
  
“Umm, first in the bedroom gets a reward,” Ryo suggested.  
  
Dee moved his head to open his eyes, lifting an eyebrow in intrigue. “What kind of reward?” he asked.  
  
“Like, uhm… like…” Ryo yawned. He leaned his head on Dee’s.  
  
Dee started to rub the small of Ryo’s back again, in soothing circles.  
  
Ryo’s eyes closed as he shrugged a little. The action caused his and Dee’s heads to move up and down. “Dunno,” he replied. “Can’t think….”  
  
“Umm….” Dee tried to come up with something but was having just as much trouble thinking as Ryo. Then inspiration hit him. “How about, the last one to the bed makes breakfast tomorrow? To have in bed?”  
  
“My brain turned into jelly and left my body through my cock when I came,” Ryo said softly to Dee, then chuckled.  
  
Dee smiled. At least Ryo had broken out of his shyness talking frankly around Dee a few months after they became lovers. As time continued to pass, Ryo grew more and more bold when not caught up in the throes of passion. During those times, Dee found Ryo had no hesitation to vocalize whatever was in his mind.   
  
“So basically,” Ryo continued, with his eyes still closed and his head against Dee’s, following his previous train of thought, “you are a smart ass now.” He chuckled at his own wit.  
  
Dee tried to pout, but ended up laughing with Ryo. “I thought I always was one. So just call me genius ass now.”  
  
Ryo laughed more. “Conceited bitch.” He kissed Dee’s forehead.  
  
“Hey,” Dee remarked, enjoying the banter, “flattery will get you everywhere with me.”  
  
Ryo chuckled. “Breakfast in bed, huh? Sounds like a plan. Okay, on three then.” With eyes still closed, he felt Dee’s head nod in agreement. “One…” he started to count. “Two… three…” He found he couldn’t move and stayed exactly the way he was.  
  
Dee, however, pushed up from the seat. He nearly lost his balance, then turned to look back when he realized Ryo did not move yet. He saw Ryo still sitting as he was, leaning over more because Dee was no longer holding him up. Ryo’s eyes were on Dee, watching him. “Ryo?” He turned to completely face his lover. “You okay?”  
  
Ryo nodded slowly. “Mhm.” He desperately tried not to fall asleep where he sat. He blinked tiredly up at Dee.  
  
Dee reached down and pulled Ryo up, leaning his tired partner against him, shifting his footing so they would not end up on the floor.  
  
Ryo sighed contentedly as he leaned into Dee.  
  
“Knocked yourself out that much, huh?” Dee chuckled.  
  
“You are evil,” Ryo remarked.  
  
“Me?” Dee asked, genuinely confused. “What did I do?”  
  
“All that running you made me do first, and then that amazing performance you made me do…” Ryo chuckled. “And now you force me to move.” He sighed again.  
  
“Now who’s the big baby?” Dee asked, teasing. He leaned down to give Ryo a kiss on his nose. “Come on.”  
  
Ryo took a wobbly step forward, still leaning on Dee.  
  
Dee leaned on Ryo, but with an arm around Ryo’s waist he support his lover. Slowly he walked them toward the bedroom. Ryo placed his arm around Dee’s waist to lend his support. Dee smiled, knowing that was just the way they were, both lending support when needed.  
  
“Damn, we’re getting old, Dee,” Ryo declared as they entered the bedroom.  
  
“Like the blind leading the blind,” Dee stated at the same time.  
  
Ryo dropped onto the bed like a dead log, looking up at Dee.  
  
Dee laughed, looking down at his lover. “Nah… I know what it is. We’re just too damn good for our sakes.” He fell down on the bed next to Ryo.  
  
“Oh no!” Ryo groaned as Dee snuggled up next to him.  
  
“Crap,” Dee exclaimed. “We’re on top of the covers.”  
  
Ryo kissed Dee’s forehead. “We left our clothes and the lube. Bikky will freak if he sees it.”  
  
Dee buried his face in Ryo’s shoulder. “Set the alarm… for like 3 AM. I doubt Bikky will be home by then.”  
  
Ryo sighed heavily. “No, God fucking dammit!” he growled.  
  
Dee lifted his head. “Ohh, what a mouth on you, Detective MacLean,” he leered.  
  
Ryo ignored Dee’s teasing as he took a deep breath and pushed himself into a sitting position.  
  
Dee let out a frustrated sigh as he sat up too. “You get our clothes and I’ll see about turning down the covers,” he said.  
  
Ryo was already off the bed and heading out the room. He walked back to the window seat in the living room, grabbed their stuff and returned to the bedroom. He stopped at the side of the bed, and dropped it all on the floor next to Dee’s side and collapsed on the bed, and onto Dee.  
  
Dee had the covers down and was currently laying under them on his side. He laughed when Ryo’s body covered his. With his arms around Ryo, he shifted them so they would be more comfortable, with Ryo on his own side of the bed. Ryo bounced a little as he settled down alongside Dee. Dee rolled onto his side, supporting his head with his arm. He leaned over to kiss Ryo lightly. “Look how far you’ve come, baby,” he stated. “I remember a time when you either made sure everything went into the hamper or folded it neatly on a chair. Now you leave your clothes all over the floor with mine.” Dee grinned at Ryo, knowing he was the cause of corrupting his partner.  
  
Ryo looked up at Dee. “For that YOU are gonna make breakfast tomorrow,” he remarked.  
  
“Why?” Dee asked amused. “You were the last one in the bed.”  
  
Ryo smiled sweetly at Dee. “Please?” When Dee continued to stare at him, he added, “I’m tired, dammit.”  
  
Dee started to rub Ryo’s chest. “Really. Then this month might be a good thing then….”  
  
Ryo pushed Dee’s hand away from his chest, pouting.  
  
Dee shook his head, chuckling, still amused.  
  
With a snort, Ryo turned so his back was to Dee.  
  
Dee did not hesitate in snuggling up against Ryo’s warm, nude body, spooning him.  
  
Ryo ignored Dee, fluffing his pillow.  
  
Dee lifted his head. “What?” he asked.  
  
Ryo simply shrugged, continuing to make his pillows comfortable.  
  
“Aw baby, I didn’t say I wouldn’t make breakfast tomorrow. Assuming I can move, that is.”  
  
“You didn’t do all that much, you know,” Ryo grumped.  
  
“Who insisted on that?” Dee asked, confused at the sudden change in Ryo.  
  
“You!” Ryo near shouted. “Because you wanted me to be top!”  
  
Dee looked astonished. “Well shit, I can’t ask to be bottom once in a while, huh? And what’s the big fuckin’ deal anyway? Remind me to complain next time I’m top, dammit. Besides, you’re the one who made me keep my hands above my head so you can do all the work.”  
  
“Exactly,” Ryo snapped.  
  
Dee sighed. “In a month,” he started, rubbing Ryo’s back, “you’ll be used to it. And I guess for now, I’ll have to deal with you acting like a typical male. Grunt and roll over when you’re done.”  
  
Ryo gritted his teeth. “Why you….”  
  
Dee seemed unflustered by the tone of Ryo’s voice. He patted his partner’s back. “Fine.” He kissed the back of Ryo’s neck. “Night.”  
  
Without warning, Ryo turn and slapped Dee’s arm.  
  
Dee’s eyes widened and for a moment hurt flashed in his eyes, before he quickly turned around, his back to Ryo and putting some space between them.  
  
Ryo watched Dee’s reaction, sitting up more. “Dee?” he asked. When there came no answer, he snuggled up to Dee, placing his arm around Dee. “I wasn’t serious, you know,” he said.  
  
“Whatever,” came the mumbled response.  
  
“Dee,” Ryo sighed, attempting to roll his dark haired partner on his back.  
  
“Go to sleep, Ryo,” Dee snapped. He resisted Ryo’s attempts to move him and buried himself further under the covers.  
  
“Hey, I was just teasing you,” Ryo said.  
  
“Well, I thought you were,” Dee replied, “until you slapped me away.”  
  
Ryo frowned a little. “Although after I went back in there to grab our stuff, I sorta did expect you to say yes to making breakfast. Instead I get a stupid joke from you about my untidiness.”  
  
“I didn’t say I wouldn’t make breakfast, goddammit!” Dee growled. “Are you not listening to me?”  
  
“Then why didn’t you just say, ‘Okay, baby. Deal.’?”  
  
Dee let out a snort.  
  
“And I didn’t slap you away!” When he was greeted by silence he said, “You think I like it when you tell me I’m like every man, grunting and rolling over after the act?” Ryo sighed, annoyed. “Fine. Good night.”  
  
Dee finally moved to look over his shoulder at Ryo. “You rather I called you a woman?” he asked.  
  
Ryo leaned over to kiss Dee’s cheek, then settled down on his side of the bed again.  
  
Dee sat up a little. “Jesus, Ryo! I call you a man and you get fuckin’ insulted?”  
  
“I get fuckin’ insulted now, Dee.”  
  
“Fine. Good night.” Dee tucked himself back under the covers on the far end of his side, his back to Ryo.  
  
Ryo ended up sitting up on his side of the bed. He ran his fingers through his wayward hair. “God, can’t we even have one fuckin’ single day that doesn’t end with us fighting over something?” he asked, completely at his wit’s end. Everyday it was always the same lately. Everyday it was something they were yelling at each other about.  
  
“I don’t know,” Dee replied after sighing. He still did not move.  
  
“I mean, we just had, had this….” He made a wild gesture to indicate the sex they recently had. “And then this now. I….” Ryo fell silent, not knowing what else to say.  
  
Dee let out a heavy sigh and moved his head slightly so he could be heard. “I was planning on spending the night snuggling up to you because of what we just did.”  
  
“So was I,” Ryo admitted. He cursed himself as he felt the tears gather in his eyes. Once again, it felt as if it was all coming apart on them. Too often Ryo felt as if this was the beginning of the end for them. He didn’t want it to end. He wanted Dee forever.  
  
Dee sighed again and rolled onto his back, his arm draped across his face. He moved his arm from his eyes to look at Ryo, noticing the tears. “Aw baby… don’t,” he softly said.  
  
Ryo shook his head angrily. There had been a lot of that too lately. Anger, being pushed to his limits of dealing with it. His language had gone away at some point with his tidiness. His anger was not always directed toward Dee. There were times it was directed at himself. This was one of those times. “I’m always screw up no matter what I do,” he stated. He fought to keep his tears at bay, to know allow them to fall.  
  
“Don’t say that,” Dee remarked, sitting up.  
  
One tear managed to leak out, rolling down Ryo’s flushed cheek. He lifted his arm to angrily wipe it away.  
  
“Ryo,” Dee started.  
  
Ryo dropped onto his back, laying down and looking blankly up at the ceiling, before closing his eyes.  
  
With a heavy sigh, Dee rolled onto his side facing Ryo, closing the distance between them so he could lean against Ryo’s body. He gently stroked Ryo’s cheek. “Don’t blame yourself, baby. I don’t know what’s wrong lately. I mean, I should have known you were joking.”  
  
“Yes, you should,” Ryo remarked.  
  
“I should know you well enough,” Dee added.  
  
Ryo opened his eyes, glaring at Dee. “I’m not like some sex animal, screwing you and then grunting and rolling over to fall asleep.”  
  
Dee blinked, still confused at why Ryo found that annoying, and started to lose some of his patience again. “But still, sheesh… Get over that already,” he snapped.  
  
Ryo’s glare got harder. “You always make jokes and tease me, but when I do, you go all… ‘Fine!’ on me.” He shut his eyes again, because those damn tears wanted to fall again.  
  
Dee took a deep breath. “Look, I said I thought you were teasing at first. But you took it a bit too far….” He immediately closed his mouth after hearing what he was saying.  
  
“What?” Ryo demanded.  
  
Dee shook his head. “I’m sorry,” he apologized. “Baby, I’m really sorry. I didn’t mean it like it sounded.”  
  
Ryo opened his eyes, angry tears escaping and falling down his cheeks. He glared again at Dee, his stare demanding Dee to explain himself.  
  
“I just meant… hell, Ryo. All I wanted at that moment was to snuggle up to you. Not make stupid jokes to your back.”  
  
“You started making stupid jokes!” Ryo snapped.  
  
Dee shook his head roughly. “I always make stupid jokes – long before you fell in love with me.” He shook his head again. “Okay, fine. So you want me to stop joking then?”  
  
“Oh, and I gotta accept that because that’s how you are? Okay! But you don’t accept it, when it’s how I am? Right?”  
  
Dee reached the end of his patience and was unable to hold back. He pushed himself into a sitting position and stared down at Ryo. “You don’t know when to stop, dammit!” he yelled in anger.  
  
“Jesus Dee,” Ryo snapped. “I know I’m not perfect, but can’t you just say, ‘Ryo, this isn’t funny anymore. Please, turn over and stop this?’ instead of expecting me to read your freakin’ mind all the time?  
  
“Shit,” was all that came from Dee, more a mutter as he dropped onto his back again.  
  
Ryo got up from the bed and started to walk to the bathroom door.  
  
“I was trying to tell you,” Dee said.  
  
Ryo spun to face the bed. “Stop trying!” he yelled. “And just say it!”  
  
“You should know me by now,” Dee replied, still not moving..  
  
“I’m sorry I’m so dumb!” Ryo continued to yell. “But I’ve always been like that, long before you fell in love with me!”  
  
“You should know that when I snuggle, I don’t want fuckin’ joke about turning away from me, dammit!” Dee’s voice rose, but he still remained as he lay.  
  
Ryo turned without saying anything else, and went into the bathroom, slamming the door.  
  
Dee let out a troubled sigh as he stared up at the ceiling in the suddenly quiet room. The room felt too empty to him, the bed too big. He continued to stare at the ceiling, refusing to ask what was happening. If he did, he knew he might have to answer some questions he was not ready to yet.  
  
Meanwhile in the bathroom, Ryo sat on the toilet seat. He leaned over with his elbows on his legs, and started to cry into his hands.

 

 


	8. Chapter Eight

========================================

==========

After lying on his back, staring at the ceiling for a minute, Dee sighed heavily as he pushed himself up from the bed. He hovered before the bathroom door, running his hand nervously through his hair.

Feeling helpless, he rested his head on the bathroom door, squeezing his eyes tight, wondering what was happening to them lately. It was obvious the love was still there, no less than when they first got together. If only they did not fight so much lately. If only he could stop feeling as if he had to pick, push, and complain at Ryo as much as he had been doing. He knew how Ryo was. It didn’t stop him from falling in love with Ryo, and he did not expect his lover to change so much that he was no longer the man Dee fell in love with.

So what was his problem? Dee shook his head sadly.

Meanwhile, inside the bathroom, Ryo was still sitting on the toilet, sobbing quietly into his hand. He reached out to tear off some toilet paper to wipe his nose, a small portion of his practical mind thankful that he had bought the soft, 4-layer aloe brand.

 

Dee continued to rest his head on the door. He realized he could hear Ryo’s sobbing through the door. Frowning, he knocked gently on the door. “Ryo?” he asked in concern.

 

Ryo looked up a moment, then shook his head, unable to reply because he feared he would end up sounding like a weepy wife. He buried his face in his hands again, trying to muffle his sobs, then tried to wipe his face with more toilet paper.

“Baby, open the door,” he heard Dee call out loud enough to be heard through the door, but still gentle. “Please.”

Ryo sniffled, attempting to stop his crying and wipe his face. He heard a thud coming from the other side of the door. He winced, knowing what caused the sound. He knew Dee that well.

 

On the other side of the door, Dee had done exactly as Ryo thought. He dropped his head heavily against the wooden door, wincing a little when his forehead hit the door a little too hard, but did not move otherwise. He stared down, looking at the doorknob, worried that Ryo did not bother to reply to him.

Unable to stand around helplessly anymore, Dee decided to try the doorknob, only for it to turn. Slowly, he opened the door a little, enough to stick his head in. “Ryo,” he called out softly.

Seeing the door open and Dee’s concerned look, Ryo buried his face in his hands again, and started to cry again. Unlike earlier, this was a release after seeing Dee looking concerned and loving.

Upon seeing the new wave of crying take Ryo over, Dee pushed the door open all the way. “Oh Jesus, Ryo.” He rushed into the bathroom. “God, baby.” He dropped onto his knees before Ryo, who was still sitting on the toilet. He put his arms around his partner, pulling him close in a comforting hug. “I’m sorry,” he apologized. “I’m so sorry. I never want to make you cry.”

Ryo leaned against Dee, drawing in some comfort from the hug, feeling the love it conveyed. He fought back a new rush of tears hearing Dee’s sincere, heartfelt apology. He wrapped one arm around Dee’s neck, holding on tightly, while the other hand still covered his face, which he pressed into Dee’s shoulder.

Dee pulled away enough to see Ryo’s face. Gently he wiped the tears streaking Ryo’s face. “Oh my God,” he moaned. “I didn’t mean to. Honestly.” Guilt shone in deep jade eyes as he continued to softly wipe his loved one’s face. “God, I love you so much.”

“What’s happened to us, Dee?” Ryo blurted out, choked up and still sobbing.

Dee shook his head sadly. “I… I don’t know.” He pulled Ryo close again, holding him.

Ryo moved his head away to look at Dee. “Are you…?” He found he could not finish and tried again. “Do you…?” Once again, his voice failed him, unable to put to sound the horrible thoughts in his head.

Dee looked concerned, as he studied Ryo’s face. “Do I what?”

Ryo started to cry more, overcome with fear of his thoughts being true. Through his crying, he was able to finally blurt out, “Do you want to leave me?” He started to sob near hysteria that Dee would say yes.

Dee’s eyes went wide with shock. Those green pools started to glitter with tears forming but not yet falling. As he stared at Ryo, unable to make his mouth move, Ryo started to shake in Dee’s arms.

“HELL NO!” Dee found his voice to roar adamantly. He nuzzled the side of Ryo’s head. “Jesus baby, whatever made you think that? I love you.” He kissed the soft cheek close to his lips, before moving his mouth close to Ryo’s ear. “I can’t live without you, Ryo,” he murmured. The tears were close to falling, threatening to be released at the thought of living his life without Ryo in it. It was the one thing that would totally break him. He had long accepted that fact, even before Ryo had finally told him that he loved him.

Ryo took in a shuddering breath to stop the sobbing. “I…I don’t know,” he replied, his voice rough from his crying. “I…,” he paused to sniffle, “I think everything’s fine and then you suddenly blow up because of something I did, and then you suddenly tell me what else I have been doing wrong and it just….” He sniffled again, wiping his nose with the balled up toilet tissue he grasped onto. “It just… I feel like I’m screwing up so bad… a-and you’re unhappy with me… and I’m not…” another sniffle, “good enough for you.” The arm around Dee held on as he placed his other arm around Dee’s neck, holding him tightly.

Dee stroked Ryo’s back, shifting so their bodies were pressed close, needing the comfort of Ryo’s body as much as he knew Ryo needed the same with his. “Aw baby,” he said gently. “Don’t ever think you’re not good enough for me. I’m the one who still gets insecure sometimes, you know, thinking I’m not good enough for you.”

Ryo pulled back suddenly, looking at Dee. “Why? I never… do I… I mean, do I do things or say things that make you feel like I’m…?” He swallowed thickly, in fear, afraid he was going to further learn how badly he was messing up the best thing he had in his life. He wiped his face with his hands, the gesture a bit childish for a man his age.

Dee shook his head. “No. Nothing like that. It’s just… sometimes I look at you… and then at me….” He shrugged, at a loss how to express himself without further hurting Ryo.

“And?” Ryo asked, and sniffled. “What about you and me?”

Dee looked sad, almost in pain as he replied low. “I don’t know. I-I just think that there’s better for you out there than me.” He hung his head as he gave a little shrug.

Ryo stared at Dee in amazement. “What? Why? Dee, you’re the best thing that’s ever happened to me in my entire life!” he demanded. “There’s no one better for me! B-because there’s no one I could love like I love you! Or who would love me the way you do.”

Dee shrugged again. “I don’t know.” He lifted his head to look Ryo in his beautiful dark chocolate eyes. “Honestly,” he stated. “I just feel that way sometimes.” He reached out to brush a finger along Ryo’s tear-streaked cheek. “It’s not you. Believe me, it is not you, Ryo.” He pulled Ryo close to him, hugging the man he loved.

Ryo could not help but start crying again.

“Aw baby,” Dee murmured, stroking Ryo’s back in a comforting motion. “I didn’t mean to make you cry again.”

Ryo continued to cry into Dee’s shoulder. He felt it was still his fault somehow. That some way he had made Dee feel the way he did. Even if how Dee felt was not his fault, he felt it was still his fault that he did not know how to make those feelings leave Dee. He had to be doing something wrong if Dee was feeling unworthy of him, instead of basking in the love Ryo felt for him.

“Please, don’t cry,” Dee said softly, still holding Ryo, rocking them. “It’s not you, I swear, baby.”

“I-I don’t w-want you to feel like that,” Ryo sobbed into Dee’s shoulder, feeling tender fingers run through his hair. He sobbed more, becoming more upset.

Dee pushed Ryo away so he could place a hand on each side of Ryo’s face. He gazed at Ryo, the pain of seeing Ryo hurt so much clear on his face. “Listen to me, baby. It’s not you. You love me like no one ever did. I swear it’s true.” He leaned his head to lightly kiss Ryo’s quivering lips. “I had hoped you could love me when I realized I was in love with you, but… I didn’t dare hope you would love me as much as you do.”

Ryo nodded, wiping his eyes impatiently. He was started to get annoyed at himself for crying as much as he had. He was not some weepy woman or some overly-sensitive twink. Besides, it was hurting Dee more the longer he continued to cry. He wanted it to stop. He did not want to cry any longer, but he could not seem to hold it inside any longer. For too long he had held too much in, hoping that somehow, someway, they would move past this horrible phase of arguing and fighting and go back to the way they were.

Dee moved his head so that his face was close to Ryo’s. “Don’t ever think I want to leave you.”

Ryo nodded as Dee pulled away a little. Ryo grabbed some new toilet paper from the roll to wipe his nose.

Dee stood, going over to the other side of the sink and taking some tissues out of the box they kept in the corner and went back to Ryo, holding them out. “Here. This is softer on the nose, no matter how soft that tp is.”

Ryo nodded, taking the tissues from Dee, and continued to wipe his nose.

Dee took Ryo by his upper arm and tugged gently, in hopes of getting the distraught man to stand. “C’mon now. Sitting on that cold seat can’t be comfortable. Or warm,” he stated.

Ryo nodded again, then stood. He wrapped his arms around Dee’s neck, as if afraid if he let go, he’d lose Dee. He leaned his head on Dee’s shoulder, suddenly feeling very tired.

Dee had started to move them from the bathroom back into the bedroom. He settled Ryo in the bed. It took a bit to pry Ryo’s arms from him, but he managed to pull himself from the octopus hold Ryo had on him to pull the sheets and comforter over his weary, upset partner.

Dee moved to his side of the bed and got under the covers, next to Ryo. Immediately, Ryo snuggled up to Dee. Dee put his arms around Ryo, holding him protectively. Ryo rested his head on Dee’s chest, still sniffling a little.

“Want me to get you some coffee, or tea, baby?” Dee asked, running his fingers through Ryo’s hair.

Ryo shook his head. His voice was hoarse from crying when he replied, “Just hold me. Please.”

Dee’s hold on Ryo tightened, holding him close. He kissed the side of Ryo’s head. “Gladly,” he said.

Ryo shifted to bury his face in Dee’s neck.

Dee continued to hold Ryo, gazing at the man in his arms, starting to look concerned. He did not realize he was biting his lip as he ran his fingers through Ryo’s soft silky hair.

Ryo sighed before giving Dee’s neck a soft peck, and shifted again so he could wrap his arms around Dee’s waist.

Dee sighed too. “I love you,” he started. “I know that doesn’t fix everything, but I can’t stop saying it. I love you, Ryo.”

Ryo lifted his head enough to reply without it sounding muffled. “I love you too, Dee. More than anything. Honestly.”

“I just wish I knew why…” Dee sounded concerned and a bit as if he was getting upset. “Damn, I don’t want to make you cry. I never want to hurt you. I love you.”

Ryo nodded a little. “I know. B-but… Dee?” He pulled his head up enough to look down at Dee’s face.

“What?” Dee asked, meeting Ryo’s gaze.

“I… I…” He sighed heavily, dropping his gaze. “Do you think you’re not good enough for me, because of… because of where you grew up?” Before Dee had a chance to reply, he added,” Because you know I don’t care about that.”

“That’s part of it,” Dee admitted, breaking their look to drop his eyes. “Where I grew up. How I grew up. I’m a street rat who doesn’t even know where he came from.”

“But Dee, I don’t care about that, you know that,” Ryo insisted, moving an arm so that he could caress Dee’s cheek. “All that matters is that you are here with me now.” When Dee did not reply and continued to gaze down, Ryo said softly, “But you care, hmm?” He started to rub his hands over Dee’s back gently.

“It’s just that….” Dee sighed again. “You’re just too damn perfect… and I can’t believe how lucky I am. I guess maybe one day I’m afraid my luck will run out.” Then so low, Ryo barely heard him, he said, “It always does.”

Ryo shook his head firmly. “No. Not with me. Never, Dee!” He hugged Dee tightly. “And I’m the lucky one. I mean, you say you look at yourself, but I don’t think you see what I see.”

Without warning, Dee grabbed onto Ryo and held him tightly to him, pressing his face against the side of Ryo’s head. Ryo heard his timid whisper. “Don’t leave me.”

Ryo’s questions brought too many questions Dee had himself, tried not to answer, and pushed them away whenever he was able. He started to feel very vulnerable now, holding onto Ryo.

“I won’t. Never,” Ryo replied tenderly. “I promise, Dee.” He kissed Dee’s head. “Dee, penguinbaby, I’m not like them,” he stated. He stroked Dee’s back soothingly, able to read Dee, knowing what was making his partner feel the way he was. They needed to get this out in the open and make Dee face his demons. He would not have to do it alone, Ryo determined, not as long as he had Dee in his arms. “Whatever reasons they had to leave you in that alley, they were damn fools, and it’s their loss, not yours. Never yours. You hear me? Because, God, just look how beautiful you are, inside and outside and everywhere. And they missed that. They gave up on having such a wonderful person in their lives. And now you think you’re not good enough. But I swear, Dee, you are. More than good enough. Better!” He lifted Dee’s head by fingers under his lover’s chin until Dee finally looked at him. “I swear, Dee.”

“I’m sorry,” Dee replied. “I can’t help it sometimes. It’s just…” He fell silent and dropped his head to rest next to Ryo’s, pressing his face into Ryo’s hair.

“It’s just what?” Ryo coaxed him.

“Ryo…” Dee whispered into Ryo’s hair, swallowing thickly. He held onto Ryo tighter, as if he held onto a lifeline to keep him from drowning.

Ryo nuzzled Dee’s ear lovingly. “It’s just? Come on, say it. Please baby. Finally let it out.”

“I don’t know.” Dee’s voice was muffled by Ryo’s head. “I mean, I know but I… can’t find the words.”

“You know I’m not going to leave you, or stop loving you no matter what you are going to say now. Right?”

Dee shook his head. “I want to Ryo… but… it’s just a sense… and I can’t…” He started to tremble in Ryo’s arms.

Ryo held onto the dark haired man in his arms, knowing how close Dee was to the edge of finally looking at and overcoming something he probably spent most of his life since a small child pushing away. It festered inside Dee, growing until Dee could not longer deny its existence. Now the time had come. Ryo was not going to allow Dee to face this alone. He took a deep breath, preparing himself for the storm, knowing what he had to do. He knew what would happen next. He only hoped he would still have Dee when it was over. It seemed to Ryo that their relationship balanced on his next question. Depending on how Dee handled it, they would fall asleep in each other’s arms, or it could very likely be the end.

Very softly, he asked, “Why did they leave you, Dee?”

“I don’t know,” Dee blurted out, sounding upset.

Ryo moved his head to rub against Dee’s. “But you think there is a reason. So why, what do you think why they did that?”

“I…I…I’m scared, Ryo.” Dee’s voice shook, slowly losing his carefully built up control. All his defenses against this were finally worn thin and ready to drop. “I’m scared you’ll leave me like they did. Because I wasn’t good enough… because… I make people leave me.” He sobbed, before pressing his face once again in Ryo’s hair. He shook more, trying desperately to not start crying.

“Oh Dee,” Ryo sighed. “You were a baby, only a few months old. And Mother said you were the cutest, sweetest, most perfect little baby she had ever seen. Of course you were good enough.” Ryo’s voice hardened as he concluded, “But they weren’t.” He stroked Dee’s back, still holding him tightly.

Dee tried to pull away from Ryo. “No!” he protested. “I had to have done something so horrible to make them…”

Using both arms, Ryo wrapped Dee tightly to him. “Don’t!” he cried out.

Dee jerked his head back, dark green eyes wide in shock at what he just said. “Omigod,” he muttered. Tears started to form in his eyes. “I did something to make them hate me.”

Ryo shook his head. “No, Dee. No, you didn’t.”

“Why else would anyone do that to a baby? Why else would my parents do that to me?” Dee looked stricken.

“Dee,” Ryo insisted firmly, “you were a baby!”

Dee looked at Ryo with sad, pleading eyes. “Why, Ryo?” he asked. He bit his lip.

“Because they were…” Ryo started.

“Why?” he repeated, almost a whisper, cutting Ryo off. Tears started to flow from his eyes.

Ryo sighed. “Because they were,” he tried again.

Once again, Dee cut him off. “All I can think is… I wasn’t good enough for them. That I’m not good enough for anyone.” He hung his head, the tears flowing freely.

Ryo continued to hold Dee, one hand on his partner’s face, rubbing his thumb over a wet cheek. “But you are!” Ryo insisted.

“It’s my fault Jess died!” Dee blurted out.

Ryo’s head pull back in surprise. “What? No! Dee, it was his own fault!”

Dee shook his head roughly. “He was killed protecting me,” he cried out, his voice quivering. “He shouldn’t have. I wasn’t worth it.”

“Baby,” Ryo said as Dee buried his face in Ryo’s neck. “Please stop saying that! You are worth so much more. And Jess was… he was…. I know you don’t want to hear it, but he doomed himself to that fate. Dee, think about it for a moment. A corrupted cop, getting involved with the mafia… he never had a chance. And he died protecting you because you are worth it. Because he knew how good you truly are.”

Ryo realized Dee was crying steadily in his arm. He kissed the side of Dee’s head. “I mean,” he said softer, “don’t you realize how much you mean to so many people? And how much better you make them feel? How much better you make their lives, because you are in it?” He held Dee tenderly, once again kissing the side of the dark haired head.

“God..damn,” Dee sobbed.

“It’s okay,” Ryo soothed him.

“I…” Dee started, then sobbed, unable to finish.

Ryo started to rock Dee.

“I’m sorry,” Dee finally said.

“It’s okay,” Ryo assured him again. He rubbed Dee’s back. “I think it’s time you finally let that out.”

Dee held onto Ryo once again as if he was a lifeline.

Ryo kissed Dee’s cheek. “It’s okay, baby.”

“T-there’s times… I…I can’t be-lieve I’m so lucky….” Dee was still crying as he spoke.

“Not lucky, Dee,” Ryo said tenderly. “Just so wonderful, I can’t help loving you more with each day.”

“I….” Dee took a gasping breath, suddenly at a loss for words. He said the only think that was on his mind. “I love you.”

Ryo was still rocking Dee, holding him, rubbing his back. “Even when you were scaring me lately, I just couldn’t help love you more for all the little things you do for me without realizing you do them.”

“I’m sorry,” Dee apologized again.

“It’s okay. I understand now,” Ryo replied. “Some things suddenly make so much more sense to me. It’s okay.”

“I was afraid, Ryo,” Dee finally admitted.

“I know, love.”

“We got this far… and suddenly… I got scared.”

“And I was stupid, because I didn’t see it,” Ryo replied.

Dee shook his head. “No. Not your fault.”

Ryo kissed the side of Dee’s head again. “You’re too damn good at hiding things for your own good.” He chuckled softly.

“I was being stupid,” Dee remarked. He finally moved his head, starting to wipe his eyes.

“I think the only person in this world who can truly read you, no matter how good you are at hiding stuff, is Mother.” He smiled at Dee before leaning in to softly kiss Dee’s eyelids.

“I didn’t want us to fight,” Dee said. “Was afraid you’d leave me, so….”

Ryo looked at Dee. “Hmm? So?”

“I was afraid to say things that could start a fight.” He squeezed his eyes shut against the fresh onslaught of tears. “And almost pushed you away anyway.”

“Shhh.” Ryo gently kissed Dee. With his lips still against his partner’s, he said, “You couldn’t push me away even if you wanted to. I won’t let you.”

“Jesus, I’m such a fuckin’ idiot!” Dee exclaimed. He still clung onto Ryo, afraid to let him go.

“You didn’t realize what you were doing. Right?”

“I…I knew I kept things from you,” Dee admitted. “But I didn’t think they made it worse.”

“They did,” Ryo said in a small voice.

“I fucked up…badly,” Dee said, sounding defeated. “I’m sorry, Ryo. Oh God, I’m so sorry.”

“No, it’s okay,” Ryo insisted. “Dee, we both didn’t handle this well. I…I’ve been bottling up, too,” he confessed. “I mean, I felt like this,” he paused to make a gesture at the bathroom, “for a while now and never said anything. I was hoping that things would be okay again soon, if I did whatever you wanted me to.”

Realizing what he was doing, and how he acted like a bastard sometimes, hurting Ryo, making him want to cry, was too much for Dee. The tears slid from his eyes again, as he started to cry.

“I should have let you know sooner. We should have had this talk a few months ago already.” Seeing Dee’s tears as his lover silently sobbed, he held onto Dee again. “Oh baby. Baby, it’s okay. Really. I’m just glad we finally have it all out in the open. Okay?”

“God, how can I be so stupid?” Dee sounded disgusted with himself. “I’ve been hurting you….”

“And I’ve been hurting you,” Ryo finally managed to cut Dee off. “So we’ve both been stupid. So it doesn’t really count.”

“You wouldn’t have been feeling like that and needing to bottle. God, I just love you so much.”

“And you wouldn’t have had anything to bottle either, if I hadn’t made all those stupid mistakes. Okay?”

Dee pulled his head back. “What stupid mistakes?” he asked, surprised.

“I know I’m not perfect, Dee. And I know that the things I did wrong have nothing to do with what you feel about yourself.”

Dee placed a hand on Ryo’s cheek. “I’ve been nitpicking you. I didn’t realize it then, but I do now.”

“But it was necessary and good,” Ryo insisted. “I needed that.” He managed to chuckle. “Hell, otherwise, I still wouldn’t be able to buy the damn lube in ten more years!”

Dee nodded a little. “I’ve been a little insensitive. Well, maybe a lot insensitive, about some things.”

“So was I,” Ryo countered.

“Besides, you were getting there,” Dee said.

“I was too damn slow about it,” Ryo insisted.

“At least you were able to stand behind me to pick out what you wanted,” Dee pointed out.

“I know that,” Ryo stated. “I did that because it bothered me even without you saying something. I’m not perfect, Dee, and I know that. And that’s alright. No one is. But I knew I wanted to be just a bit better for you. I just didn’t know how to do that.”

“But I fucked up too,” Dee said. “I… sometimes, my biggest fault is at times expecting everyone to do things because I did.”

“Well, yeah, sometimes you do that,” Ryo had to admit, but gave Dee a gentle smile. “But everyone has a flaw.” He kissed Dee’s forehead.

Dee leaned his head into the kiss. In a low voice, he said, “But I forgot what is buried beneath all that.” He watched as Ryo nodded in agreement. A small rueful grin appeared on his face. “Which in the lube case was a 17 year old boy who never dared go near that aisle for another 5 years,” Dee admitted.

Ryo chuckled at Dee’s confession and had to kiss his nose.

“I kinda forgot about him when I was pushing you. And I’m so sorry.”

“I hope I won’t react the same way,” Ryo said, then smiled. He gave Dee a playful wink. “It’s okay.”

“You don’t have to buy it again, if you don’t want to,” Dee said.

“I know me well enough to know that I need to get pushed sometimes.”

“Really,” Dee pressed.

“No, it’s okay,” Ryo assured him. “Damn, I mean, it was embarrassing and I wanted to die, but in the end it was… well, it was fun!” He laughed a little.

Dee rubbed his cheek against Ryo’s.

Ryo moved his head to kiss Dee on his lips. “And so worth it,” he intoned, the smile on his face reaching his eyes, which gazed into Dee’s.

“Please baby,” Dee said. “Promise me something.”

“Yeah?”

“Don’t ever do anything more than you’re comfortable with because I want you to.”

Ryo nodded. “Okay.”

“Because you get there. Just sometimes it takes you a little time getting used to it.”

Ryo chuckled. “Yeah. My timing, your temper. Bad combination.” He winked again at Dee as he chuckled again. “But you know what?”

“What?”

“I wouldn’t want it any other way,” Ryo answered.

“Except for my making you cry,” Dee said. “I don’t like it. And I’ll work on stopping that.”

“But you have to promise me something too,” Ryo said.

“Yeah?”

“Don’t stop pushing me or telling me what you want because you’re afraid you’re pushing me too far. You aren’t. You have never done that. Even if maybe I acted like that this afternoon after we came home.” He leaned so that his mouth was close to Dee’s again. “Because I need to get pushed sometimes. Okay? I know that about myself, and it’s okay.”

Dee sighed heavily. “I’ll try, but,” he started to protest.

Once again, Ryo cut him off. “Just don’t bottle it all up and then drop it all on me at the same time. Okay? That’s what I can’t handle.”

“After today, I’ll probably be a little nervous about that, even if I know I need to talk.”

“Baby, you trust me, don’t you?” Ryo asked.

“Of course I do,” Dee replied, nodding vigorously. “It’s me that I don’t trust sometimes. That’s the problem.”

Ryo sighed, studying Dee. “But you can trust yourself,” he said. “I think that’s what Mother kept telling you as a youngster. Hm?”

Dee nodded. “Yeah, she did.”

“See? And you always do what Mother tells you to. So?” Ryo winked and smiled warmly at Dee.

“And most times I do, but sometimes….” In a low voice, he continued, “It gets really scary. Especially with something as important… or someone… like you are.” He smiled a little, almost looking timid. “Damn you, Ryo. You know how to get me, you know.”

Ryo smiled back, pushing Dee’s hair out of his eyes. He hugged Dee, exclaiming. “I love you so freaking much, Dee.” He felt Dee snuggle comfortably against him, marveling for the countless time what a perfect fit the contours of their bodies made for the other. “And baby? One more thing.”

“Hm?” Dee asked, sounding snug and secure.

“You said that you always make the people you love leave you. If that’s true, why is Mother still around? And so very proud of her son?” He stroked Dee’s face lovingly.

“Ah…” With a rueful look, his eyes looking up at Ryo, he replied, “Because I’m an idiot sometimes?”

Ryo laughed softly. “That has to be it!”

Dee grinned and kissed Ryo gently. “Yeah. That has to be it. And I’m glad you’re in love with this idiot.” He hugged Ryo again. “I don’t know what I’d do without you.”

“You know what you truly make people you love do?” Ryo questioned slyly.

“Um, no idea.”

“You make them love you more than anything in the world.” He kissed Dee, the kiss more than the soft ones they shared so far.

Dee smiled at Ryo, sniffing. “Love you, baby. Love you, love you, love you!” His lips met Ryo’s for another sweet kiss after Ryo chuckled at his proclamation. “Shit, I don’t know what else to say,” he said when they parted. “I love you.”

Ryo laughed. “That’s okay, since I like hearing it.” He smiled at Dee.

“I’m sorry.”

“Dee,” Ryo said softly, stroking Dee’s face soothingly. “And I’m sorry, too. So we’re even.”

Dee placed his arms around Ryo and rested his head on the soft, but strong shoulder.

“Let’s just never bottle anything up again or hide things from each other,” Ryo stated. “Well, except for Christmas, birthday or Finding Day presents.”

Dee nodded in agreement. “Yeah.” His eyelids started to droop as exhaustion started to hit Dee. “I need to get some sleep now.”

“Oh! Maybe other presents.”

A grin grew on Dee’s face. “Other presents?” he asked, opening his eyes. “I love presents… but… I do need to get some sleep.” He chuckled, settling his head more on Ryo’s shoulder. He gazed up to Ryo’s face.

“I know,” Ryo said, his eyes twinkling. “I need sleep too.” He grinned impishly. “Tomorrow, then.”

Dee laughed. “I need to get to sleep so I can wake up nice and early, and make a breakfast fit for a king for you to wake up to.”

Ryo laughed. “Good. Gives me enough time to get out the present I have for you.” He smiled at Dee, who had closed his eyes.

Dee’s eyes opened. “Present? Again with the present.”

Laughing, Ryo rolled onto his back, and pulled Dee closer.

Dee lifted his head, raising an eyebrow. “And you’re teasing me again. As you always do when you have a present for me.” He could not stop the grin.

Ryo nodded. “Good night, penguinbaby.” He kissed Dee’s forehead, his hand rubbing Dee’s naked cold upper arm. He pulled the blankets up over them more, making sure to cover Dee’s arm.

Dee snuggled up against Ryo and sighed happily.

Smiling, Ryo gave Dee a squeeze and kissed his brow.

“This is how I love to sleep. Nice and warm against my studmuffin,” Dee murmured happily.

“Yeah. Me too,” Ryo agreed. He leaned down and tipped Dee’s head up to give his love a kiss.

Dee smiled and kissed Ryo back. “Love you.”

“Love you too,” Ryo replied, his eyes closing. The day finally had taken its toll on him, and having Dee in his arms made Ryo feel secure enough that he could finally go to sleep.

Always and forever,” Dee added.

“Yeah,” Ryo murmured sleepily. “Forever.” A smile was on his face as he soon fell asleep.

Dee stayed up a little longer, content to be snuggled up against Ryo, in Ryo’s arms. He gazed at his partner, amazed at how lucky he was, thankful he still had Ryo. If not only what Ryo said, but the tone of his voice, Ryo was not going to leave Dee for a long time. Most probably, he’d never leave. Dee could not help smiling tenderly, reminded again that he had finally found not only love, but his true love. He had the one person in his life, that most people were never lucky enough to have. He had his true love, his soulmate. He vowed to work better at assuring he’d never hurt Ryo again, and never bring tears to those beautiful eyes. Content, he finally closed his eyes and fell asleep.

 

 


	9. Chapter Nine

Ryo placed the half full coffee mug on the end table and started to get out of the bed. Dee had brought in the coffee a short while ago. Now Dee was busy making the breakfast he promised Ryo the night before. It was time for Ryo to start moving himself, and get his surprise for Dee ready before his partner returned with their breakfast.  
  
Ryo had awakened first that morning, but was content to lay there quietly and watch Dee sleep. Dee seemed relaxed and at peace as he slept – there was even a little smile on his face as the sleeping man snuggled closer to Ryo. He was certain the rough time they had been going through was past. After a while of watching, he decided to start waking Dee up with kisses. Dee did not complain too much about the disruption of his sleep, and they spent some time cuddling and kissing before Dee got up to make coffee and take a shower. When he got out of the shower, he brought Ryo his coffee, wearing only a pair of tight boxers. Ryo noticed he grabbed his robe as he left the bedroom to go back into the kitchen to start making their breakfast.  
  
Ryo went into the bathroom to take a quick shower, then went through the rest of his morning routine of shaving and brushing his teeth. He finished the routine by splashing some of the cologne that had been proven to drive Dee crazy. He wanted everything to be perfect that morning. It was the day he had been waiting at least a few weeks for, not knowing exactly when that day would finally come.  
  
This is the day, Ryo resolved, smiling, as he strode from the bathroom in only a towel to carefully choose his clothes. He opted for casual and sexy, knowing he did not intend on staying in his clothes too much longer after breakfast. As the aroma of cherry, blueberry and peach fruit compote drifted to the bedroom, Ryo considered maybe not even that long. He smiled as herummaged through his dresser and took out the box that contained Dee’s present and placed it on top of the dresser. He selected a comfy pair of jeans and another of Dee’s shirts and quickly dressed.  
  
~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~   
  
Dee was in the kitchen, placing the waffles on a plate that covered so they would stay warm. He set the bowls with the fruit and whipped cream on a tray, along with the waffles and poured coffee into a thermal carafe, placing it, along with coffee mugs on the tray.  
  
He looked around the kitchen, making sure he did not forget anything, then picked up the tray, going for the bedroom.  
  
~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~   
  
In the bedroom, Ryo chose a position near the door and kneeled down, holding the box. While waiting for Dee to enter, he played with the box nervously. He opened it and checked to make sure the item inside was clean and shiny. He took a few deep breaths to calm his nerves. Still waiting, he switched from one knee, back to the other.  
  
He heard Dee come up to the bedroom door and started to push it open.  
  
Quickly Ryo did a last minute rearranging of his hair and shirt.  
  
As the door opened, Dee called out, “Are you out of bed yet, lazyhead?” He entered the bedroom, looking straight ahead toward the bed.  
  
Ryo kneeled several feet from Dee, looking up at the confused look on his partner’s face. He smiled up at Dee, and held out the open box so Dee could inside. Loudly, Ryo cleared his throat to get Dee’s attention.  
  
Dee glanced down in the direction of the sound and noticed Ryo on the floor before him, holding out a small box. He gasped at the implication, the tray in his hand bouncing a little. “R-ryo?” he asked uncertainly. He gazed down into the box Ryo held out, his eyes resting on the ring within. The tray trembled more.  
  
Ryo’s smile got wider seeing Dee’s reaction. He was no longer nervous. Seeing the look on Dee’s face emboldened Ryo. “Dee Lane Laytner,” Ryo started, watching Dee’s vibrant green eyes go wide, “please marry me.”  
  
Dee’s mouth dropped open as the tray trembled and tilted sideways. “Holy…” Dee uttered. The coffee carafe slipped from the tray and went crashing to the floor.  
  
Ryo’s grin grew, ignoring the coffee leaking out onto the floor. His eyes were only on Dee. He reached into his back pocket and pulled out plane tickets.  
  
Dee managed to get a firm grip on the tray as he dropped to his weakened knees in front of Ryo. Somehow he managed to set the tray down on the side without losing everything else. “Oh my God, Ryo…” He gasped again, his eyes going from the ring to Ryo’s face, back to the ring again.  
  
“Please?” Ryo asked, lifting the hand holding the ring higher so it was closer to Dee. He smiled hopefully at Dee.  
  
Dee’s eyes went from the ring to Ryo’s face, nodding. They went back to the ring, then back to Ryo and gazed into his eyes. “Yes,” he whispered, past the knot in his throat.  
  
Ryo’s smile was brilliant as Dee replied. He took the ring out of the box, face glowing with pure happiness. He took Dee’s left hand and slipped the ring onto the ring finger, smiling up at Dee.  
  
Wide eyed, Dee stared at the ring. “Omigod!” he exclaimed, finally able to speak louder than a whisper. “Yes!” He threw his arms around Ryo and kissed him deeply. “Yes!” he repeated again when he pulled his head away. His eyes went to the plane tickets.  
  
Ryo laughed at Dee’s curious expression. “Yes, baby. I’m serious. I even bought plane tickets.”  
  
“P-plane tickets?” Dee asked. “To… honeymoon?”  
  
Ryo laughed again, leaning in to kiss Dee’s nose. “Silly. We can’t get married here. Not really, but there we can.” Dee looked at Ryo, still not quite comprehending. “In Canada, we will be acknowledged as married whenever we go there.”  
  
Dee looked over Ryo’s shoulder at his left hand, grinning as Ryo spoke. He pulled his head back in shock when Ryo stopped talking. “You mean… really? Really married. Not just commitment?”  
  
“No commitment ceremony for us, Dee. Really married. With signed papers and legal acknowledgement and all,” Ryo explained, smiling at the look on Dee’s face.  
  
Dee continued to gaze at Ryo in shock. “I-is this the present?” he asked, then gave Ryo a smile to match the one his part-Japanese partner was giving him.  
  
Ryo nodded, his smile brighter, if possible. “Do you like it?”  
  
Dee nodded vigorously. “Baby, you’re the present. It’s the best one I ever got.”  
  
Ryo laughed, watching as Dee once more stared at his hand in amazement. His eyes went to the coffee puddle near them on the floor. “Um, I guess I shocked you a bit there, huh?” He chuckled. “I’m sorry baby. I’m glad you were able to save breakfast.”  
  
Dee looked where Ryo’s eyes were fixed. “Oh shit!” he exclaimed. He scrambled from his spot to grab a paper napkin and start wiping up the coffee. “I… yeah, you shocked me all right.”  
  
Ryo grabbed Dee, pulling him close to him. “Forget about it,” Ryo said, amused. “Come here.” Dee allowed himself to be pulled, even if he looked a bit confused as his eyes went from the coffee he did not get to yet, then to Ryo. “Can I kiss you now?” he asked, moving his head so his lips were close to Dee’s.  
  
“Of course you can,” Dee replied. “Please….”  
  
To Dee’s surprise, Ryo grabbed Dee around his waist, dipped him while laughing and kissed him.  
  
Dee let out a surprised yelp before he started to giggle. Deciding he was enjoying himself, latched his hands behind Ryo’s neck and returned the kiss. He glanced at the fingers curled lovingly along Ryo’s neck and noticed the shining ring. “Oh my…” he gasped as Ryo broke the kiss, grinning down at Dee. “When did you get this?” he asked.  
  
“Some weeks ago,” Ryo replied, pulling Dee up to lean against him. He settled into a more comfortable position on the floor, smiling as Dee did the same, but continued to lean against Ryo. He could not help leaning over to kiss Dee again as he saw the sappy grin on the dark haired man’s face. “Biks and Carol helped pick it out.” At Dee’s surprised expression, he continued, “I wanted to give it to you earlier, but then we sorta, well, we… well we started to have so many fights, and I was afraid you’d say no.” He smiled tenderly at Dee. “But now was just the perfect time, I guess.”  
  
“It’s… damn, the timing is just perfect,” Dee agreed, grinning. He hugged Ryo and kissed him briefly, but passionately. “’Cause you’re going to make my dream come true,” he whispered, pulling slightly away, sparkling green eyes looking into Ryo’s dark ones.  
  
“Your dream?” Ryo asked.  
  
“I thought about it several times, but stopped myself from asking you.”  
  
Ryo hugged Dee, bestowing several kisses on Dee. “Why?” he asked. “Baby, if I had known….”  
  
Dee shrugged. “I was afraid you’d think it was silly or… that… once presented with this, you might not feel the same as I did about it.”  
  
“Dee!” Ryo exclaimed, shocked. “Of course! I do feel the same. Had for quite a while now.”  
  
Dee kissed Ryo, then moved his mouth to nuzzle Ryo’s jaw. “I was afraid because, well because of that crap from last night. I felt it was all too good to be true and all that.”  
  
Ryo sighed heavily, stroking Dee’s back as he kissed Dee’s cheek. “I promise I’ll do everything within my power to make you forget about that!” he vowed. “I told you I want to stay with you forever, and I really mean it. I hope you believe me now?” He smiled hopefully at Dee. “Because I really, really, really want this. More than anything.”  
  
Dee lightly kissed Ryo, smiling. “Not that you didn’t help me much, because you did.” He moved his hands to get a good hold on Ryo and kissed him passionately until they both gasped for air when Dee broke the kiss. “I gotta warn you,” he said, after taking a few deep breaths, “I hope you do feel that way, because now there ain’t no way you’ll get rid of me.”  
  
Ryo laughed, pulling Dee to him. “Good!” he exclaimed happily, starting to leave a trail of kisses on Dee’s face. His lips finally zeroed in on Dee’s lips, already opening and waiting to be kissed. “And now,” he said as he pulled his head away, “you can clean up the mess you made.” He laughed, then laughed harder at Dee’s wide eyed look.  
  
“I dropped it because of…!” he started to protest, but ran out of steam as his eyes rested on the tray that still had their breakfast waiting. “At least we still have something to eat. Even if some of it ended up with the coffee.” He laughed.  
  
Ryo chuckled. “Okay, I’ll help you clean then.”  
  
Dee picked up the napkins he had used before Ryo stopped him. “Ugh, coffee stains.”  
  
Ryo moved to stand up, wincing. “Did it seep into the wood?” he asked.  
  
Dee had reached out to steady Ryo as he stood, while he remained half kneeling on the floor, accessing the damage. “It’s in the grooves,” he stated.  
  
Ryo stretched, letting out a little groan. “Damn, you kept me waiting too long.” He grinned at Dee.  
  
Dee looked up at Ryo. “I’m sorry. I wanted to make something special, then I couldn’t decide on what.”  
  
Ryo laughed, stretching again. “It’s okay.” He leaned down to kiss Dee.  
  
Dee stood up, taking the coffee carafe with him and setting it on the tray again. He picked up the tray and placed it on a dresser. Moving past Ryo, he paused to kiss his partner again. “Be right back,” he assured Ryo. He went into the bathroom to get a towel.  
  
Ryo nodded. “I’m going to get the mop,” he said, then walked out of the bedroom.  
  
Dee was still wiping the floor when Ryo entered with the mop in hand. He looked at Dee and cried out, “Dee! Not the tow—.” He sighed, shaking his head. “Too late.”  
  
Dee looked up from his task, grinning. He held up the towel he was using. “Relax. Cleaning towels. We do keep a few in the bathroom, just in case.”  
  
“Oh!” Ryo stated. “Thank God.” He chuckled ruefully. “We do.”  
  
Dee laughed at Ryo. Ryo laughed more at himself. He dropped on his knees next to Dee and hugged him, still laughing.  
  
“You did teach me a few things since moving in, you know,” Dee said, sounding amused.  
  
Holding onto Dee, Ryo nodded into Dee’s shoulder, before kissing it. Dee laughed, still holding up the towel. Ryo moved his head to look at the damage made by the spilled coffee on the wooden floor. “Oh damn. Can you fix that?”  
  
Dee went back to studying the stain. “I might, but….” He grinned, looking at Ryo. “I don’t want to.”  
  
Ryo laughed. “You’re crazy! We’re gonna get splinters in our feet, you know. Thank God it’s your side of the bed.” He grinned up at Dee.  
  
Dee shook his head. “Aw, it’s just stained. Not stripped.”  
  
“Oh good.” Ryo could not resist kissing Dee again.  
  
“I think I like the idea of every time I look at it, I’ll remember exactly how you proposed to me,” Dee explained.  
  
“Really now?” Ryo asked, kissing Dee once more. The kiss deepened as he toppled them both over, landing on Dee. He continued to kiss Dee in their new position.  
  
Dee wrapped his arms around Ryo, still holding onto the towel. “Umm,” he murmured between kissing, maybe one of us needs to use the mop?” He let out a chuckle..  
  
Ryo reached behind him, tugging the towel out of Dee’s hands and threw it in a random direction. “Hmm?” Ryo asked, starting to nibble on Dee’s ear.  
  
“Hey!” Dee jokingly protested, enjoying himself. “I know you’re gonna make me pick it up later.” He laughed and moved his head so he could kiss Ryo.  
  
“Yeah, I am. Along with all the stuff I dropped on the floor last night. He grinned down at Dee.  
  
“Mmm. Playful this morning too,” Dee observed.  
  
Ryo nodded happily as he straddled Dee’s lap. Slowly, he pushed the robe Dee was wearing open. He licked his lips as he gazed down at his lover. “Mmm. Breakfast for a king indeed.”  
  
Dee broke out in laughter.  
  
Ryo leaned down to slowly drag his tongue along over Dee’s chest.  
  
“If that’s all it took,” Dee said amused, “I wouldn’t have bothered making the other stuff.” He squirmed a bit from what Ryo’s tongue was doing to his chest. “God yeah, eat me,” he sighed.  
  
Ryo looked up at the dresser with the tray on it. Despite Dee’s attempt at pulling his head down, he leaned over to the dresser and grabbed a bowl of warmed cherry compote. His attention back on Dee, he tipped the bowl over slightly so the fruit would slowly drop onto Dee’s chest.  
  
Dee giggled and squirmed a little from the feel of the fruit on his bare chest. He watched as Ryo leaned over again and started to click his chest clean. Dee moaned a little. Once Dee’s chest was cleaned, Ryo drizzled some more of the warmed fruit on Dee’s chest. He took a little longer in licking and nibbling on Dee’s chest to clean it of the fruit. Dee started to moan more, especially when Ryo’s tongue lapped up the fruit that was dropped onto his nipples.  
  
Grinning playfully, Ryo sat up again, still straddling Dee’s lap and leaned over again so he could carefully bring the tray to set on the floor within his reach. He picked up a waffle, and dipped it into the peaches.  
  
Dee raised an eyebrow of intrigue at the way Ryo seemed to have settled on eating his breakfast.  
  
Ryo smiled, as he offered the fruit covered waffle to Dee. Dee stared at it in thought for a moment, before taking a nibble. As Dee chewed, Ryo brought the waffle to Dee’s mouth again, using it as a brush and smearing some of the fruit on Dee’s lips. He leaned down and started to kiss Dee, licking the fruit off. “Mmm,” he sighed into the kiss. “Yummy.”  
  
Dee laughed, because before deciding on taking a small bite, he had been debating the same thing. He let out a gasp as the waffle dipped in the blueberry compote was brushed on his neck. When Ryo was satisfied with his work on Dee’s neck, with a wicked grin, he moved the waffle and held it over Dee’s stomach to allow some of the fruit to drop into his navel.  
  
Dee let out a blissful sigh as he rolled his head so the fruit covered side was up and offered to Ryo. “I hope I’m as delicious as I’m feeling,” he said, then sighed again.  
  
Ryo dipped a finger into the fruit and offered it to Dee, smiling. Slowly, Dee licked the finger, drawing the tip into his mouth. Ryo leaned over, his fingertip still in Dee’s mouth as he started to lick Dee’s neck clean. Dee closed his eyes, his tongue lapping the finger. He moaned around the appendage as once his neck was cleaned, Ryo nipped it a couple of times, before moving down along Dee’s chest to clean the fruit filled navel. Dee squirmed again, giggling a little as he continued to lick the finger. Once it was clean, he started to gently suck on it, moaning.  
  
“You taste,” Ryo started, and paused to moan from what Dee was doing to his finger, “goooood,” he stretched out.  
  
Dee released the finger. “Then have some more,” he offered. “Please.”  
  
“Oh yeah, no doubt about it,” Ryo groaned in agreement. He scooted back some so he was kneeling around the vicinity of Dee’s thighs with his lover between his legs. With a wicked grin, he rubbed his hand over the bulge in Dee’s boxers. “Now what do we have here?” he asked, definitely in a playfully naughty mood that morning.  
  
Dee moaned for a reply, lifting his hips slightly.  
  
Ryo fingered the stiff column beneath the cotton material experimentally. He appeared to be figuring out what it was beneath his fingers by feel. He frowned a little, as if thinking hard. “Well, it could be a banana,” he said. Before Dee could reply, he added, “But it’s too big and hard for that. Mmmm….”  
  
Dee lay prone on the floor, moaning and writhing from what Ryo was doing to him.  
  
Ryo appeared to absentmindedly take the bowl of whipped cream and dipped his finger in. He stuck it into his mouth, his other hand still fingering Dee’s cock.  
  
Dee’s eyes were fixed on Ryo, watching him.  
  
“Maybe I should take a look?” Ryo said to Dee, before dipping his finger in the cream again and stuck it into his mouth.  
  
Dee let out a groan. “Maybe you should.”  
  
Looking inquisitive, Ryo pulled his finger out and using that hand pulled the elastic band of the boxers down a bit.  
  
Dee leaned up, resting on his elbows, his eyes going to what Ryo was doing.  
  
“Oh, now that looks… weird,” Ryo proclaimed as he peeked into the boxers, pulling the head of Dee’s cock out. He licked the tip. “Tastes good though.”  
  
Dee moaned before he was able to speak. “Weird?” Dee asked, trying to keep from giggling at Ryo’s silliness.  
  
Ryo smiled down at Dee. “For a fruit, yes, weird.” He seemed satisfied with his answer.  
  
Dee could not help laughing.  
  
Ryo grinned, pulling the boxers down more.  
  
“Maybe a vegetable?” Dee suggested, joining Ryo in the silly game.  
  
Ryo’s eyes opened as he got a better view. “My, this is a big fruit,” he stated, pulling it out. “Or veggie.” He giggled a little. “Mmm… still looks good to eat.” He licked up and down the length, making Dee moan.  
  
Ryo picked up the bowl with the blueberries and another waffle and using the waffle again as a brush, started to smear the fruit on Dee’s erection until it was covered with cooked blueberries. He sat back, straddling Dee’s thighs and admired his work, nibbling on the waffle.  
  
Dee moaned, then looked down at his fruit covered cock. His eyes went up to study Ryo, who was obviously enjoying eating his waffle while his eyes were fixed on what appeared to be the next part of Ryo’s breakfast.  
  
“You’re silly,” Dee stated. “Sexy silly.”  
  
Ryo took another waffle and dipped it into the whipped cream and dropped some of it on the tip of Dee’s fruit covered cock.  
  
Dee sucked in his breath.  
  
Ryo started to giggle. His eyes fell on the remaining cherry compote and he picked out a near whole cherry which he placed on the whipped cream. “Now that looks like….” He studied his handiwork again, “like….” He started to laugh. “Like something real tasty!”  
  
Dee laughed with Ryo. “And begging for you to eat it,” he said.  
  
Ryo wasted no time leaning over and starting to lick along the length, lapping up the thick sweet blueberries. When he got to the head, he took it into his mouth and started to suck on it.  
  
Dee fell back onto the floor, moaning loudly. “Ohhh… Ryo,” he sighed as Ryo started to take more of him until his head was bobbing up and down slowly. Dee started to moan, licking his lips. “S’good.”  
  
Ryo dipped two fingers into the whipped cream and offered them to Dee. Dee took the fingers slowly into his mouth, sucking on them.  
  
Ryo moaned around Dee’s cock.  
  
Using the tip of his tongue, Dee licked the fingers clean, drawing more of them into his mouth to gently suck on.  
  
Ryo moaned again. He started to suck harder on Dee’s cock, swiping his tongue over the slit repeatedly.  
  
Dee forced himself to sit up, grabbing onto Ryo’s wrist as he continued to suck on the fingers. He found himself moaning around the fingers. “Ahh baby,” he sighed.  
  
Ryo pulled back briefly to quickly take off his shirt.  
  
Dee gasped at the loss of contact.  
  
Ryo took the bowl of whipped cream and another waffle, and smeared some of it over Dee’s left nipple, licking it off immediately. He took the time to suck on the nipple, drawing more moans from Dee. His free hand started to stroke along the length of Dee’s cock.  
  
Dee was ready to fall back again, moaning. “En-joying…breakfast?” he asked and moaned again.  
  
Ryo nodded as he happily sucked and nibbled on Dee’s left nipple. His teeth clamped down on the hardened nub, causing Dee to cry out, then moan, arching his back slightly. He smiled, feeling in Dee’s body the other man submitting to him. He licked the nub in farewell before he started to kiss his way across Dee’s chest to the other nipple.  
  
Dee placed his hands on Ryo’s shoulders to keep him from falling back as he sighed.  
  
Ryo gave the right nipple the same whipped cream treatment, including the sucking and nipping. Slowly he started to stroke Dee’s cock at the same time.  
  
“Mmm…” was all Dee was able to utter between moaning and sighing. He was writhing from Ryo’s exquisite play on his nipple. He removed one hand from Ryo’s shoulder and started to reach toward Ryo’s still jean imprisoned cock.  
  
Ryo’s crotch was definitely plumped into a nice basket, his imprisoned erection painfully throbbing in his jeans. He was glad he did not choose a very tight pair. “Mhmmm…. Yeah,” he groaned as Dee touched him through the fabric.  
  
He pulled his head away from Dee’s chest, giving the right nipple a final bite and lick, causing Dee to cry out again. He repositioned himself so he could deeply kiss Dee, taking advantage of the mouth still open from his cries.  
  
Dee cupped Ryo’s hard-on in his hand and started to rub it as they kissed.  
  
Ryo groaned into the kiss, enjoying the friction, but needing to be released. Between the kisses, he said, “I love you.”  
  
“Love you too.” Dee laughed.  
  
“What’s so funny?” Ryo asked.  
  
Dee was grinning like a fool.  
  
Ryo shook his head affectionately, and smiled. He kissed Dee’s cheek. “You look happy.”  
  
“I am happy,” Dee replied. He pulled Ryo close for another kiss. “Very happy.”  
  
“Mhmm,” Ryo agreed. “Me too.” He kissed Dee again, wrapping his arms around his partner’s neck. A little awed, he whispered, “Hey Dee?”  
  
“Hmm?”  
  
His lips almost touching Dee’s. “You’re gonna be my husband, you know?”  
  
Dee’s answering smile was brilliant. Ryo could not help but smile himself, his matching Dee’s.  
  
“Yeah, I am,” Dee said. “And you’re gonna be mine.”  
  
Ryo nodded and kissed Dee again.  
  
Dee placed an arm around Ryo as he deepened the kiss, until he had Ryo moaning. Dee looked past Ryo’s head to the floor close to them. “Hmm.. you have more breakfast to eat.”  
  
“Oh yeah?” Ryo looked at the tray. He looked back at Dee when he heard his dark haired partner chuckle. “What?”  
  
Dee took Ryo’s hand and placed it on his crotch.  
  
Ryo laughed.  
  
“The weird fruit/veggie thing,” Dee remarked.  
  
Ryo laughed more. “God, I love you,” he exclaimed.  
  
“Love you too.”  
  
Ryo kissed Dee again, before moving away a bit. Grinning wickedly, he went back to happily sucking on Dee’s cock.  
  
Dee started to moan again, placing his left hand on Ryo’s head. His eyes looked down at the fingers tangled in Ryo’s soft silky strands of brown hair. It was hard to miss the sparkle of the ring on his finger. “Oh my God, Ryo,” Dee gasped. “I love you so freakin’ much.”  
  
“Love you too,” came Ryo’s mumbled response, his mouth still filled with Dee’s cock.  
  
“Yeah, but…” Dee started. He abruptly left his sentence hanging as Ryo massaged his prostate from the outside. He gasped, shuddering as a tendril of pleasure jolted from the center of where Ryo’s attention was and up his spine. He arched his back again, crying out. “You drive me wild,” he gasped.  
  
“Mhmmm,” was all Ryo attempted to say, still concentrating on Dee’s cock.  
  
“Hey baby?” Dee asked. “What about your weird veggie thingie?”  
  
Ryo started to chuckle and had to pull away because he started to choke himself on Dee’s cock. He coughed a little, smiling at Dee, assuring his husband-to-be that he was all right.  
  
“Sorry, baby,” Dee said, still sounded concerned.  
  
Ryo waved him off. “Later… for my weird thingie, that is,” he said with a smirk.  
  
Dee ran his fingers through Ryo’s hair, smiling at him.  
  
“Or are you hungry too?” Ryo asked.  
  
Dee shook his head. “Nah. Not yet.” His eyes met Ryo’s. “Unless you want….”  
  
“No, it’s fine,” Ryo replied. “I have other plans.” He gave Dee a devilish smile.  
  
Dee’s eyes fell on the hand running through Ryo’s hair and started to bounce a little. “Don’t let me stop your plans,” he remarked.  
  
Ryo laughed at the sight before him, realizing Dee’s reaction was caused from looking at the ring on his hand. “You know,” Ryo mused, a teasing glint in his eyes, “if you were smaller and had a different hair and skin color, and so on, I’d say you’re JJ.”  
  
“Hey now! Don’t go and ruin the mood.” Dee tried to pout, but did not succeed. He found himself laughing instead, Ryo joining him. “I’m just….” He started to bounce with excitement again. “…happy. I’m so fuckin’ happy!”  
  
“I’ve noticed,” Ryo remarked deadpan, before he started to smile proudly as he watched Dee. “Now where were we?”  
  
Dee laughed again. “Baby, my ecstasy level is on high just sitting here.”  
  
“Well, in that case, let’s take it into overdrive,” Ryo stated, his hands on Dee’s chest. He pushed Dee onto his back and went back to sucking his excited partner off again.  
  
Dee started to moan loudly, squirming a little.  
  
Ryo used more whipped cream on Dee’s cock.  
  
Dee sighed. “Love the way you eat breakfast,” he murmured. “Remind me to make you breakfast more often.”  
  
Ryo deep throated Dee for a reply, swallowing several times in succession, causing Dee to loudly moan again.  
  
“Ahhh…. Ryo,” Dee gasped. “You’re gonna make me….” He tangled the fingers of both hands in Ryo’s hair, reduced to more moaning.  
  
Ryo nudged against Dee’s prostate from the outside several times, watching as Dee started to shudder and writhe as he arched his back, crying out from the sweet torture.  
  
“Oh… God.” Dee was panting, his body starting to convulse a little. He had no chance of prolonging it.  
  
Ryo swallowed again, as he rubbed the sensitive outer area of Dee’s prostate.  
  
Dee cried out louder as he started to cum.  
  
Ryo moaned as Dee’s seed spurted down his throat, feeling the cock throb wildly as Dee came. Eagerly, he swallowed Dee’s cum.  
  
Dee let out one final cry before he went lax on the floor, his hands dropping from Ryo’s head. His chest rose and fell as he attempted to catch his breath from his powerful orgasm. “Ryo…” he sighed blissfully. He let out a few more sighs. “Damn…” He managed a lopsided smile as he looked down at Ryo, who was looking up at him while still sucking Dee’s now limp cock. As Dee watched, Ryo slowly let the cock slide from his mouth, his dark smoldering eyes still on Dee.  
  
“So sexy,” Dee sighed, transfixed at the sight before him.  
  
Ryo returned to straddling Dee’s thighs and reached for the last waffle, dipping it into the rest of the whipped cream. He started to eat it, grinning proudly at Dee.  
  
Dee was still attempting to catch his breath. “Oh… wow,” he moaned. “Even that…,” he gulped for air, “feels different…good different.”  
  
Scooping up the last of the cherries and more whipped cream, Ryo crawled over Dee’s body until he lay down on top of him. “Different in what way?” he asked. He started to feed some of his waffle to Dee.  
  
“My husband-to-be just gave me this absolutely fantastic blow job.”  
  
Ryo chuckled, as he fed more of the waffle to Dee. “You and your way with words.”  
  
Dee laughed. “I’m serious.” He took another offered bite of the fruit and whipped cream covered waffle, before hugging Ryo. “Love you so much.”  
  
Ryo smiled at Dee. “I know,” he replied to Dee being serious. “And I know that too,” he added, grinning. He watched as Dee gazed at the ring again with a big silly grin on his face. Ryo popped the rest of the waffle in his mouth and gave Dee a quick kiss.  
  
“Wow,” Dee said, still awed at the events so far that morning.  
  
Ryo sat up to straddle Dee’s lap again.  
  
“I take it breakfast was good?” Dee asked, smiling.  
  
“Yum!” Ryo remarked. “But I want more.” He grinned down at Dee, licking his lips.  
  
Dee laughed. “Take all that you want,” he offered, looking amused.  
  
Ryo reached over to grab a pillow. He placed it on the floor next to the bed. Dee had been keeping himself entertained by rubbing Ryo’s chest. Ryo grinned down at Dee before he moved off his husband-to-be.   
  
On his knees next to Dee, he patted the pillow. “Can you kneel over here?” he asked.  
  
Dee looked curious as he sat up. At Ryo’s encouraging smile, he started to move from his place.  
  
“I’ll be right back!” Ryo announced, standing up. He rushed off as fast as he could with a raging hard on still imprisoned in his jeans and left the room.  
  
Dee looked baffled, but he did as his loved one bade and knelt on the pillow. It was not very long before Ryo entered the room again.  
  
“Oh, I forgot to say,” Ryo remarked, entering the room, smiling at Dee waiting for him while kneeling on the pillow. “You should take your boxers off.” He smiled sweetly at Dee. “Oh, and you should face the bed, so you can lean down on it.” The grin he gave Dee turned into a leer promising many wicked delights. He had his hands behind his back, obviously hiding something.  
  
With a big grin on his face, Dee wasted no time in getting out of his boxers, tossing them in the general direction where their clothes from the night before were still on the floor. “Oh yeah?” Dee asked Ryo, anxious to see what the other man was up to. One thing Ryo contributed regularly to their relationship was he was good with his imagination in coming up with different and exciting ways to make love. Stripped down to his skin, Dee assumed the requested position, wiggling a little in an enticing way.  
  
He felt Ryo get on his knees behind him. Ryo’s arms went around him to pull his back up against Ryo’s front for a hug, then kissed his cheek.  
  
Dee pressed further back against Ryo, never getting enough of the feeling of his body against Ryo’s. If only Ryo would lose his jeans, he thought. He stopped thinking when he felt Ryo place his jeans clad erection against Dee’s naked backside. Dee pushed his ass out, sighing.  
  
“Yes,” he sighed, unaware that one of Ryo’s arms was no longer holding him.  
  
He heard some sounds and suddenly felt something very cold drip down his back. He shivered from the shock as he gasped in surprise. Before he could do anything else, he felt Ryo’s hot tongue start to lick off whatever was running down his back. He moaned. He tried to sniff and get an idea of what Ryo had poured on him. It felt sticky, but Ryo was very good with his tongue. He moaned again, before trying to look over his shoulder.  
  
Ryo did it again, pouring the gooey cold gooey substance down his back, letting it run further down Dee’s back before he started to lick it clean.  
  
Dee started to squirm and giggle. “What’s…?” he tried to ask, but found himself moaning again.  
  
“Mmm, yummy,” Ryo exclaimed. He leaned his head over Dee’s shoulder to kiss him. Dee tasted the vanilla sauce and grinned. Now he was Ryo’s dessert. He had no complaints.  
  
Upon breaking the kiss, Ryo dripped more down Dee’s back and let it run until some of it ran just above the cleft of Dee’s ass cheeks before he started to lick it off, starting at the top of the back, and making his way down.  
  
Dee was wiggling and squirming more, finding the treatment to be some sweet torture. He was hard again. He giggled when Ryo did something fascinating with his tongue on the small of Dee’s back, getting closer to the end of the sauce trail.  
  
Ryo giggled too, enjoying the way Dee was squirming in his arms and against him. “Do you like that?” he asked in a husky tone.  
  
Dee nodded, then realizing Ryo might not have seen it considering where his head was, he said, “Yeah. Tickles a little….”  
  
Dee’s back being completely licked clean, Ryo poured more vanilla sauce. This time he allowed it to run down into the cleft of Dee’s ass. Making sounds of enjoyment, Ryo went back to licking Dee’s back.  
  
Dee started to squirm more, especially feeling the cold sauce run in his crack. He was alternating between sighing and moaning from what Ryo’s tongue was doing.  
  
Ryo went lower than the other times. He kissed the left cheek of Dee’s firm ass, and parted the firm, smooth globes a little to lick the sauce.  
  
Dee leaned forward a little, resting his hands on the bed to keep himself from dropping. He let out a few deep moans as Ryo licked him clean in the very sensitive area, panting between each moan. More sauce was poured over the small of his back, allowing more to dribble into his cleft.  
  
Ryo put the bottle of sauce aside as Dee pushed his ass out more. He sighed as he felt Ryo start to lick the sauce off the small of his back, making his way back down.  
  
Dee moaned loudly, bending forward more, trembling arms resting on the bed as Ryo’s tongue swiped over his opening. The tip of Ryo’s tongue nudged a little into the opening. One hand was massaging Dee’s inner thigh as he licked.  
  
Dee’s arms from elbows down were resting on the bed as he leaned forward, moaning and writhing. “Yes, baby,” he murmured.  
  
Ryo continued to lick and prod the opening, moaning a little.  
  
Dee continued to moan loudly. “Yes… oh yes,” he groaned.  
  
Ryo started to kiss his way around Dee’s ass, then up along the spine until he was kissing Dee’s neck. He positioned himself between Dee’s legs, rubbing himself against Dee, jeans still on. Nibbling Dee’s ear, he moaned.  
  
Dee’s head dropped as he moaned softly. “God, Ryo,” he sighed, as Ryo nibbled and suckled his neck. He rubbed his ass against Ryo’s still jeans clad crotch, moaning repeatedly.  
  
“Mhmm, you feel so good against me like that,” Ryo sighed.  
  
“Mmm, I do,” Dee agreed as he rubbed again.  
  
Ryo kissed and licked his way to the other side of Dee’s head. He reached down for the lube pile on the floor next to their bed. “Want me to use the heat stuff again or would you prefer neutral?” he asked before kissing Dee’s shoulder.  
  
“Doesn’t matter,” Dee replied. “Whichever you want.”  
  
Considering everything else he had done up to that moment, Ryo decided the generic stuff would be good enough. He knew he did not have to take things too over the top. If the way Dee was bent over the bed under Ryo, and the whispered phrases between moans sounding close to his lover begging Ryo to take him, they did not need anything fancy. Things were already stepped up several notches.  
  
He managed to open the tube, with help from the hand that was still around Dee and slicked his fingers. He placed the tube of lube next to the bottle of vanilla sauce, and moved to the side a little. He was kneeling over Dee’s left leg.  
  
Dee let out a little cry of protest when he felt Ryo’s body move, then shivered from anticipation of what would be next.  
  
With a smile, Ryo pressed his chest against Dee’s back again, taking advantage of his new position by circling Dee’s entrance with two fingers. He kissed the side of Dee’s face. “Relax,” he softly said into Dee’s ear, “you’re all tensed up.” He slipped an arm around Dee’s chest, pulling the dark haired man back and holding him against his chest. Ryo’s fingers stroked along Dee’s chest.   
  
Dee sighed and took a couple of deep breaths.  
  
Ryo slid two fingers inside as Dee breathed out.  
  
Leaning his head back, Dee groaned.  
  
Ryo kissed Dee, sensing Dee loosen up. He wasted no time in prepping Dee. He knew where the tension before was from. He had teased the two of them long enough. Now it was time for Ryo to take them both to sweet completion.  
  
With one arm around Dee and the 3 fingers of his other hand gently stretching Dee, Ryo realized he did not want to release either hold yet, but needed his pants opened. He nuzzled Dee’s ear, biting down on the earlobe, making Dee cry out and tremble.   
  
“Hey,” he whispered, the hot moist breath on the ear causing Dee to tremble again. “Can you reach my jeans? I don’t wanna let go of you.”  
  
“Yeah,” Dee gasped, then grinned.  
  
Ryo’s eyebrow arched in amazement when Dee managed to open the fly of his jeans blindly within a second. “Hmm, you certainly have some talents, Mister….” he remarked.  
  
“Took years of practice,” Dee cut him off, and chuckled.  
  
Ryo felt Dee was already ready. “Laytner,” he finished. “MacLean-Laytner, Laytner-MacLean…. Hmm?”  
  
Dee moaned again. “The last two sound great.”  
  
Finally relinquishing his fingers from inside Dee, Ryo lubed himself up quickly, not bothering to take off his jeans. He stroked Dee’s side reassuringly as he entered Dee smoothly and quickly.  
  
Dee let out a strangled little cry, then moaned, pressing back against Ryo.  
  
“Sorry. Are you okay?” Ryo asked. He kissed the side of Dee’s face again.  
  
“I’m fine,” Dee sighed. “When I pull away, then worry.” He chuckled.  
  
“Gotcha,” Ryo remarked. He worked up a steady middle-paced rhythm.  
  
“It hurt just a little at first, but the good type of hurt. Ahh… yes!”  
  
Ryo started to nibble and lick Dee’s neck, keeping his pace and listening to Dee moaning softly with each thrust. The man in his arms and under him started to pant a little. “S’good… s’good,” Dee chanted.  
  
Ryo discovered he was panting more than a little. It felt so good, almost too good. “Yeah, you feel so perfect around me,” he stated. “Like a mold.” He moaned into Dee’s neck.  
  
“Yeah. Mmm….” Dee pressed up against Ryo. “Harder,” he begged.  
  
Ryo reached around Dee and took his partner’s throbbing erection into his hands, stroking him. Dee dropped his head back and moaned again. Ryo slammed into Dee, but did not pick up his pace. He just pulled out more and thrust in deeper, as he moaned.  
  
Dee cried out, pushing back as if trying to take more of Ryo in him. “Yes baby,” he gasped. “Yes…” He moaned once again. “You feel so good in me.”  
  
Ryo leaned back a little and pulled Dee up a bit by the hips. His thrusts into Dee was now from a slightly lower angle.  
  
Dee moaned louder at the change. He started to pant more.  
  
“Oh fuck,” Ryo moaned, as he continued to thrust into Dee. He felt Dee press back again, whimpering, getting greedy for more of Ryo. Ryo decided to oblige him. It was always amazing whenever he took Dee. To watch his normally dominate partner so willingly become submissive to him was always a treat. Ryo knew what it meant, how it was one of Dee’s ultimate gifts of love to him. A gift that Ryo cherished.   
  
Ryo started to thrust faster.  
  
Dee’s eyes were closed as he murmured, “Yes… yes…” in time with Ryo’s rhythm. “Shit yeah. Fuck me, baby.”  
  
Ryo started to lick Dee’s upper back. He grasped onto Dee’s hips again and slammed into him, pressing Dee’s groin hard against the mattress.  
  
Dee cried out, before loudly moaning. “H-holy fuck!” he gasped. “Yes!”  
  
Ryo thrust hard again, slamming Dee hard enough to make the bed scrape over the floor a little. He let out a groan and then moaned long.  
  
Dee was moaning very loudly as he continued to be slammed into the bed, his erection rubbing up against the mattress. Five years ago if someone had told him he would be in this position and loving it, he’d have punched that person out. Still amazing to Dee was like many other times, it was at his request.  
  
Ryo started to gasp for air as he felt his climax approaching. It felt too good to him. Dee was so tight and warm. Whenever he was top, it was a feeling like he never felt before with the few women he had had in his past. Feeling Dee writhe under him and moan only enhanced the experience for Ryo. He watched as Dee grasped onto the sheets and clenched his fingers in them. His dark haired partner was panting harder, still moaning. Dee was getting close too. Ryo saw all the signs.  
  
“Oh God, oh God,” Ryo chanted, feeling himself get closer, the climax mounting.  
  
Dee pushed back to take as much as Ryo as possible and clenched the ring of muscles tight. “Cum in me, Ryo,” he groaned, arching his back.  
  
“OH GOD!” Ryo cried out, as the first waves of climax hit him and he started to cum immediately.  
  
Dee moaned again. “S’good,” he murmured. “S’good to feel you cum in me.”  
  
Riding his orgasm, Ryo slammed into Dee one more time, causing Dee to cry out. Dee shuddered as he felt Ryo cum in him, still thrusting, with his weeping erection rubbing against the mattress. His fingers balled more of the sheets as he threw back his head and cried out again, starting to cum. The ring of muscles around Ryo tightened again from his orgasm, milking the last of Ryo’s milky seed from him. His own seed spilled out onto the mattress and down his lower front.  
  
Upon being released from his climax, Dee dropped his head onto the mattress and groaned. “Holy fuck,” he sighed.  
  
Ryo moaned and collapsed onto Dee.  
  
“That…” Dee gasped, “was…” he paused again to pant, “blissful….” A contented sigh left his lips as he closed his eyes for a moment.  
  
Ryo was still on Dee, panting hard. He managed to nod in agreement, realizing he was unable to speak yet. Under him, Dee was gasping into the mattress, trying to catch his breath. Ryo started to stroke Dee’s side.  
  
Dee stretched carefully while still under Ryo. “I could get used to this very easily.”  
  
Ryo pulled away from Dee a bit, groaning as he slipped out from Dee. He pulled himself up to crawl onto the bed next to Dee.  
  
Dee turned to hold out a hand, helping Ryo to settle into place. Ryo took Dee’s hand and moved again so he could spoon up behind Dee, holding the dark haired man tightly.  
  
With a tender smile, Dee turned his head so he could kiss Ryo, while snuggling against the body behind his. As they kissed, Ryo hold on Dee tightened, as if he never wanted to let Dee go. Ryo deepened the kiss. The kiss was eventually broken only by need of air.  
  
Dee sighed contently as he rested his head on the pillow. “I love you,” he said.  
  
“Love you too, hot stuff,” Ryo replied, kissing Dee’s cheek.  
  
“Damn… you’re great, baby,” Dee remarked on Ryo’s earlier performance. “My hot sexmuffin.”  
  
Ryo chuckled into Dee’s neck. “Mhm.”  
  
Giggling erupted from Dee. “You moved the bed….” He sounded in awe. He could not stop himself from laughing.  
  
Ryo laughed with Dee. “Yeah, I did. Now I’m tired again.”  
  
Dee let out another happy sigh as he melted further in Ryo’s hold.  
  
“Wonder what the people living in the apartment under ours think now?” Ryo asked, amused.  
  
Dee lifted his left hand. “That we’re rearranging again?” he suggested. His eyes fell on the ring and he smiled brightly, still not believing Ryo had planned a getaway for them so they could be married.  
  
Ryo chuckled at both Dee’s reply and his actions. Dee could be so cute when totally awed by something. Ryo looked down at his lover and saw the expected wide, amazed eyes fixed on the ring. He laughed again, starting to nuzzle Dee’s neck lovingly.  
  
“So, when do we leave?” Dee asked, looking back at Ryo.  
  
“Hmm?” Ryo was preoccupied with peppering Dee’s neck and shoulder with small, warm and soft kisses. “On our anniversary?” he asked between kisses.  
  
Dee smiled again. “Sounds wonderful… if I can wait that long.” He let out a sigh.  
  
Ryo laughed at Dee’s impatience. “We can go before that if you want,” he stated. “I just have to make a few phone calls to arrange something earlier.”  
  
“We can discuss this,” Dee said. “After we take a nap. And a warm bath. Or maybe during the bath?” Dee turned his head to grin up at Ryo. “After I clean up around in here, that is.”  
  
“Okay,” Ryo agreed. He captured Dee’s mouth for another kiss. When they broke the kiss, Ryo started to giggle.  
  
“Hmm?”  
  
“You’ll clean up?” Ryo asked. He gazed down at Dee, tightening his hold. “Is this what I get for proposing? Damn, if I had known earlier!” He chuckled as he continued to hug Dee.  
  
“Well yeah… you told me before to pick up our clothes.”  
  
Ryo smirked. “Really? Hey, maybe we can get Carol to propose to Bikky very early?”  
  
“Ryo!” Dee sounded shocked.  
  
“What?”  
  
“Don’t let them grow up so quickly,” Dee replied. “Especially Bikky.”  
  
Ryo sighed heavily. “I know, baby. I was just joking. I’m not so anxious for Bikky to grow up and leave us.”  
  
Dee nodded. He looked up at Ryo again. “But they helped pick out the ring?” he asked, his eyes going back to his left hand again. “Carol… and Bikky?”   
  
“Yeah. Bikky was totally excited about it,” Ryo stated.  
  
“He didn’t make any comments about it being a perv ring, did he?” He chuckled.  
  
“No, he didn’t,” Ryo replied.  
  
“Man, and I thought we were getting along very well lately.” Dee snickered.  
  
“Actually....” Ryo pushed himself up on one elbow so he could look down at Dee’s face better. “I think he was getting worried when he didn’t see it on you even after a few days went by. I wanted to propose on Valentine’s Day, you know.”  
  
Dee reached up to caress Ryo’s cheek. “Really?”  
  
Ryo started to draw lazy circles on Dee’s chest with a finger. “Yeah.”  
  
“I can’t say I blame you for holding off, because I would have done the same thing. But….” He lifted his hand so he could gaze at the ring again. “I feel very loved, Ryo.” The smile on his face was warm and tender. “And special,” he added softly.  
  
“Good! Because you are, you know,” Ryo stated. He smiled. He could not help chuckling. He felt too good seeing the absolute look of love and contentment on Dee’s face.  
  
Dee nodded, finally in agreement with Ryo. “That’s because you deserve the best.” He continued to smile at Ryo, their eyes meeting.  
  
“Bikky fussed over what the ring should look, like he was buying it for his love,” Ryo said. He chuckled at the memory.  
  
Dee laughed. “That’s scary, you know.   
  
“Yeah, it was. Carol was speechless for ten minutes, and that’s saying a lot!” Ryo had to laugh again.  
  
“When he comes home today, I’ll make sure I get my hand before his eyes.”  
  
“Good! He’ll be very happy.”  
  
“God, he is growing up. And we’re getting older,” Dee moaned, before chuckling. “Now we need to gasp and wheeze for a while after one time of doing it.”  
  
Ryo laughed. “Well, it was not the average position, you know.” He briefly kissed Dee’s lips. “My knees hurt.”  
  
“Tell me about it,” Dee sighed.  
  
“You had a pillow,” Ryo reminded him.  
  
“Yeah. So I can imagine how you feel. Next time, we’ll have to find a way to keep a pillow under you.”  
  
“Deal.” Ryo leaned down for another loving kiss until they were both breathless. He rested his head in the crook of Dee’s neck for a moment before lifting his head to look down at Dee again.   
  
“Dee,” Ryo said, suddenly looking serious. “He wants us to adopt him. Officially, I mean.”  
  
“What?” Dee looked shocked. “Bikky… he wants us as his legal fathers? You… and me?”  
  
Ryo nodded vigorously. “Yes. He was very excited about it all, and kept saying something about us ‘finally becoming a real family’.” He smirked as he added, “Of course he ruined it by saying that now we’re just ‘two pervs with a street kid’.”  
  
Dee laughed. “Now I feel better.”   
  
“Me too,” Ryo agreed, chuckling.  
  
Dee’s smile was brilliant. “Well… then….” His eyes met Ryo’s. “I guess our marriage means the three of us can be a real family.” He caressed Ryo’s cheek. “I want a family, you know. Especially if it’s you and the midget man.”  
  
“I’d like to think that we already are a real family,” Ryo said. “But I know what you mean.”  
  
“I know. We are,” Dee said. “But we’ll be more a real family. Honestly, if that kid stops calling me perv, I’m going to start thinking he hates me.”  
  
Ryo laughed with Dee. As the laughter subsided, he rested his head on Dee’s shoulder and took a deep breath. “Wow. I feel… I dunno… calmer? More centered? I dunno.”  
  
Dee nodded in agreement as he laced his fingers through one of Ryo’s hands. “I feel more… at peace,” he said, his voice calm, yet filled with love.  
  
“Yeah,” Ryo said. “That’s it.”  
  
“With everything,” Dee went on. “I feel complete.”  
  
“Yeah. That too.” He smiled at Dee.  
  
“Something was filled in me that I didn’t realize was empty until now.”  
  
Ryo lifted his head and grinned wickedly down at Dee. “Well…” he started, the suggestion obvious on his face.  
  
“Hey!” Dee remarked, trying to sound offended, but failed as he fell into laughter. “It’s empty right now too.”  
  
Ryo laughed at Dee’s comment. He rubbed his nose against Dee’s cheek. “I know what you mean, baby,” he stated seriously. “I know.”  
  
Dee sighed. “Thank you,” he whispered.  
  
“You’re finally… home,” Ryo stated. “Here with me. And I can’t tell you how happy it makes me to know that I am the one to do that for you.” He lightly kissed Dee. “Because that’s what I felt I wanted to be for you from the first day on. Honestly, I have no idea why I tried to deny what we already knew was there for two years.”  
  
“That’s what I’m thanking you for,” Dee smiled. “For being that, and so much more.”  
  
“Do I get a thank you kiss then?” Ryo asked, leaning down.”  
  
“Those two years… you were scared,” Dee said. “You probably kinda knew how deep your feelings ran, and it scared you away. It doesn’t matter now anyway. We’re together and have been for a while.”   
  
Ryo nodded. “Yeah. Most likely.”  
  
Dee lifted his head to reach toward Ryo’s lips. “Of course you get a thank you kiss. A very proper thank you kiss.” He kissed Ryo soundly.  
  
As Ryo kissed Dee back, he rolled his lover onto his back so he did not have to keep leaning over the way he had been. As they continued to kiss, Dee slipped arm around Ryo, pulling him close.  
  
Ryo settled along Dee, propping his head on one hand as he ran his fingertips over Dee’s chest and belly. He smiled down at Dee as his fingers strayed, watching the look of enjoyment on the dark haired man’s face. “You know, I never felt that strongly about anyone ever before, except my parents and my aunt and uncle.”  
  
Dee nodded. “Speaking of family, I’m going to have to go to the orphanage today… later, after Bikky gets home.”  
  
“Oh?”  
  
Dee snickered. “Mother’s going to hug you to death next time she gets her hands on you, you know.”  
  
“I could come along,” Ryo said with a grin, “and we could tell her together.”  
  
“I’d like that.”  
  
“Okay. And if Bikky wants, he can come along, too, if you don’t mind.”  
  
“By all means. We’re all her family now.” Dee made a face at Ryo. “Go ahead and tease me, but how long did you think I can keep this from her?”  
  
“It’s okay,” Ryo assured him. He chuckled and added, “Actually when I bought the ring, I was tempted to run to her to show her myself.”  
  
Dee laughed at Ryo’s confession. “That’s why I love you.” He looked thoughtful for a moment before a teasing glint sparkled in his eyes. “I know at one point in life, you were probably thinking you’d end up marrying a woman, but...,” his grin grew wider, “…did you ever really think you’d end up marrying a penguinbaby?”  
  
Ryo shrugged, attempting once again to look serious. It lasted a full second before he fell into laughter. “God, I’m a sodomist!” he exclaimed in mock horror. He dropped back down onto the bed.  
  
Dee laughed along with Ryo. “You are – and a very good one too.” He grinned at Ryo.  
  
Ryo sighed as he settled closer to Dee. “Dee…”  
  
“Hmm?” Dee asked, starting to nuzzle Ryo’s cheek.  
  
Ryo grabbed Dee to pull him to lay on top of him.  
  
Dee glanced down. “Need your human blanket, baby?” he asked, only half teasing.  
  
Ryo stared up at Dee, his dark eyes meeting deep green ones. In a whisper, he said, “Can we make an exception just for today? Please?” He continued to stare pleadingly at Dee.   
  
Dee’s eyes got a soft look in them.   
  
Still in a hushed whisper, Ryo added. “I want to feel my husband-to-be inside of me, too.”  
  
“Damn you,” he replied. “You know you got me in a mood that I can’t deny you anything, baby.” He stretched lazily while laying across Ryo. “Now?” he asked.  
  
“Whenever you are ready.” Ryo smiled and hugged Dee.  
  
Dee started to kiss Ryo, starting light, but the kiss deepened.  
  
During a pause in their kissing, Ryo whispered into Dee’s ear, “I’m so happy you said yes. I don’t know what I would have done otherwise.”  
  
“I don’t think I could have any other answer,” Dee replied, his voice also hushed, near a whisper. “I’ve wanted this so badly for the longest time.” He kissed Ryo again. In between his kisses, he intoned, “I want you, I need you. I love you that much.”  
  
Ryo ran his fingers down Dee’s lean, supple back. “Then show me, please. Make love to me, Dee.”  
  
Dee’s mouth took Ryo’s lips again. “Gladly. Anything for you, love.”  
  
Both Dee and Ryo were surprised they had enough in them to go one more round as Dee fulfilled Ryo’s wish and made love to the man he now called his husband-to-be.


	10. Epilogue

**SIX MONTHS LATER**  
  
Dee waited patiently for his turn at the check out counter. At least he tried to wait patiently as the woman before him continued to talk to the man at the check out when she should have been taking her bags and leaving.  
  
He glanced around and noticed he was still alone with their groceries. A few minutes ago, Ryo had placed the magazine he was reading down and touching Dee’s shoulder said softly, “Be right back.”  
  
Dee sighed as the woman chatted on. He glanced at his watch. It had been a very long day, and all he wanted to do was get out of there and go home and relax for the evening. Couldn’t she see the man at the checkout was just merely being polite, and not really interested in her idle chattering?  
  
The woman finally started to take her bags and turning to Dee, she smiled. “I’m sorry. Sometimes I just talk to much.”  
  
Dee merely nodded politely as he thought, ‘Yeah, way too much.’  
  
The man behind the counter greeted Dee and started to ring up his items, giving him room to place the remaining items in his shopping cart onto the counter. Dee watched as the man concentrated on his task. That poor guy was probably glad to finally have a silent customer, Dee thought.  
  
Suddenly a body pressed against Dee’s from behind as Ryo’s left hand snaked around Dee to drop something on the counter. The ring on Ryo’s ring finger sparkled in the rays of the setting sun coming in through the large windows. Dee grabbed the hand with his own, a matching ring on his finger and entwined their fingers for a moment.  
  
He looked back at Ryo, who leaned over to briefly kiss his lips. “Now you remember, Mr. Laytner-MacLean?” Dee asked amused.  
  
Ryo shrugged. “You avoided that aisle, so it slipped my mind. Until I saw an ad in the magazine,” he replied with a chuckle as he leaned closer. He tapped Dee’s nose. “You need to start taking note of when we’re running low once in a while.” The dark eyes were filled with amusement.  
  
Dee grinned as Ryo moved to stand beside Dee, yet managing to still lean against Dee. “Well, I guess I should.”  
  
Ryo chuckled. “Yeah, I think you should. I have to remember we need it AND buy it these days.”  
  
“Hey! That’s not true.” Dee indicated the bottle Ryo had dropped onto the counter. “I’m buying it now… Uh… AstroGlide?”  
  
Ryo laughed as he watched the expected response now that Dee had noticed the brand. He leaned over to kiss Dee’s heated cheek. “It was really that bad that day?” he asked, knowing why Dee never selected that particular brand. If it wasn’t for Ryo, they never would use it. Ryo usually selected it for amusement; he enjoyed making his husband blush once in a while. That was one of the few things that could still make Dee blush. When Dee nodded, Ryo kissed him again. “At least you were able to pick up other brands, Astro Boy.”  
  
“Ryo!” Dee laughed, burying his face on the side of Ryo’s head. He held Ryo’s hand. “I found out later that Penguin knew exactly what it was that dropped out from my shirt.” He shook his head. “There are some things a man never wants to hear come out of his mother’s mouth. Especially when his mother is a nun.”  
  
Ryo laughed more. “She knows exactly what it is you’ve been doing all these years, Dee. Especially now that you’re a married man.” Ryo briefly kissed the side of Dee’s head.  
  
“I know, but still… sheesh.” Dee lifted his head.  
  
Ryo removed his wallet from his back pocket to take out his credit card. “Anyway, today I’m buying it. Again. It’s my turn for the groceries anyway.” He grinned devilishly at Dee.  
  
Dee nodded. “Yeah, I guess you’re stuck buying it again. Poor you.”  
  
Ryo leaned to whisper into Dee’s ear. “Hey Astro Boy, I buy, I glide… you know what that means?”  
  
Dee’s eyes sparkled. “That it’s been almost a week since I heard you say something to indicate that. Why aren’t we home already?”  
  
“Slow down there, hubby!” Ryo laughed. “We still have to feed Bikky when we get home.”  
  
“Yeah. Right. Can we send him out for a while then?”  
  
“He’s going camping this weekend, so I’d rather he stay at home with us tonight.”  
  
Dee nodded. “Right. Then after he goes to sleep?”  
  
Ryo laughed. “Of course. Astro Boy.”  
  
“Your Astro Boy,” Dee sighed. His eyes rested on the new credit card with Ryo’s changed name. It read, ‘Randy Laytner-MacLean’. Just as Ryo’s driver’s license and other important documents. Just as Dee’s now said ‘Dee Laytner-MacLean’.  
  
When Ryo had proposed to him, Dee managed to show some restraint and they kept to Ryo’s original plans – they went off to Toronto for their anniversary and got married. In Canada and other countries that acknowledge same sex marriages, they were a legal couple. It held true when they go to Massachusetts and New Hampshire. They were currently considering moving to Westchester County, just north of the Bronx, because while marriage licenses were not issued to same sex couples in New York State, Westchester County acknowledged those marriages performed in areas where it was legal.  
  
That was six months ago. In the time waiting for their marriage vacation, Dee watched Ryo slowly come out of his shell concerning his sexuality a little more. Once they were married, it was almost frightening to watch the pace Ryo dropped the last of his walls. He married Dee because he loved him and knew Dee was the one person Ryo wanted to spend the rest of his life with. They had both legally adopted Bikky, making him their son. They were a family. Ryo decided he had no reason to hide his husband or their son from the world. Ryo was out and everywhere they went, they were a couple. Ryo demanded it as his right. Dee happily found himself in a long term same sex relationship that did not wish they could be like the straight couple. Because they were very much the same type of couple, and if someone did not like that they were two men, that was too bad for the other person.  
  
Dee’s life was better than he imagined it would be. He had Ryo as his husband and they were so happy together. They had Bikky as their son, and Dee felt they could not have had a better kid for a son. He knew there would be rough times ahead – it was normal and to be expected in any relationship. He was confident that they would smooth it out in a short time and continue to live happily for the rest of their lives.  
  
Dee no longer felt inadequate. He was home. With his family.  
  
There was really nothing else that Dee needed. He would spend the rest of his life striving to assure his family would continue to be happy. It was a goal he gladly took on.  
  
Ryo leaned over to kiss him once more after he signed the receipt. They gathered up their bags to go home.  
  



End file.
